Department for Transport

High Speed 2 Railway Line: South Hampstead

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on specific construction activities planned for South Hampstead by HS2 Ltd; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Construction activity by HS2 Ltd will take place along the line of the route as set out in the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Act 2017. HS2 Ltd has established a webpage to provide information to stakeholders in the London Borough of Camden:https://hs2ineuston.commonplace.is/From July 2018 the main works Contractor, SCS, and HS2 Ltd will be engaging with the local communities with an increasing level of information as the design matures and the need for these associated activities is defined.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Camden

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department takes steps with (a) the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government and (b) HS2 Ltd to identify any risk of settlement damage to residential blocks at (i) Alexandra Place and (ii) Alexandra and Ainsworth and (iii) Rowley Estate as a result of the tunnelling planned by HS2 Ltd. underneath that area.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: HS2 has set out the process for assessing possible damage to buildings in information paper C3 “Ground Settlement”. As the detailed design for the Phase 1 programme progresses, settlement assessments will be developed as outlined in this paper. The main works Contractor, SCS, and HS2 Ltd will be engaging with the local communities with an increasing level of information as the design matures.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Construction

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department takes to ensure that HS2 Ltd's construction plans are within the scope of the additional provisions of the High Speed Rail (London to West Midlands) Act 2017; and what powers of review his Department has for such construction plans that go beyond the scope of that Act's provisions.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: HS2 Ltd is required to ensure that its construction plans are within the scope of the powers granted by the High Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Act 2017 (which incorporates the five Additional Provisions) and comply with the Environmental Minimum Requirements, Protective Provisions Agreements and the Register of Undertakings and Assurances. Any construction works that go beyond the scope of the Act’s provisions would need to be agreed by the Department and HS2 Ltd would need to obtain the appropriate planning and environmental consents.

Heathrow Airport: Construction

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of a third runway at Heathrow airport on the Northern Powerhouse project.

Jesse Norman: Expansion at Heathrow will benefit the North, be that through the commitment to about 15 per cent of new slots being used for domestic routes, or through the thousands of new jobs and careers across the country that Heathrow has estimated will be created. The Department remains committed to the Northern Powerhouse. Between 2018/19 and 2020/21, the Department for Transport will be investing £831 per head on road and rail upgrades in the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber – more than £30 more per head than in London and the South at £799. The Department for Transport continues to work closely with Transport for the North and local partners to maximise benefits for passengers, businesses and the region as a whole.

Railways: Fares

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative assessment his Department has made of domestic rail fare costs compared to European averages; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The Rail Delivery Group published in February 2018 a report showing a comparison of European railways against those in Great Britain. It showed that our domestic railway comes second after Finland in terms of passenger satisfaction which stood at just below 80%. It also showed that we have one of the least subsidised rail networks in Europe which delivers value for taxpayers, the economy and passengers – a previous report by Passenger Focus found that Great Britain has the most frequent services in Europe for commuters.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what supply-side initiatives his Department supports to assist motorists to reduce vehicle emissions; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: We have set out a clear mission to put the UK at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero emission vehicles and for all new cars and vans to be effectively zero emission by 2040. We will work with industry to achieve this ambition, and share the benefits this opportunity presents, building on the Automotive Sector Deal. Our ambition is underpinned by one of the most comprehensive packages in the world to support the market for ultra low emission vehicles. We are investing nearly £1.5bn‎ between April 2015 and March 2021, with grants available for plug in vehicles, schemes to support charge point infrastructure in homes, workplaces and on-street and R&D into cleaner vehicle technologies.

Midland Main Railway Line: Repairs and Maintenance

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2018 to Question 155304, what the average journey time between London and Sheffield has been over the most recent month for which data are available.

Joseph Johnson: The Department does not hold this information. The information requested may be available from rail industry open data feeds on the internet.

Railways: Management

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to improve the strategic management of the railways; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The Department’s 2017 paper ‘Connecting people: a strategic vision for rail’ details the Government’s approach to improving the management of the railways, including the creation of long-term partnerships between the public sector and private partners to improve the service that passengers receive, continuing the Government’s programme of significant investment to improve rail performance, and the transformation of Network Rail into a more responsive, locally-focused company. In March 2018 we built on this by announcing an improved approach to railway enhancements, creating a rolling programme of investment to improve planning, deliverability and efficiency, and opening up the development and delivery of rail infrastructure.

Driving: Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with (a) the Association of Policy and Crime Commissioners and (b) the National Policy Chiefs Council on changes to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s guidance on driving and diabetes.

Jesse Norman: No formal discussions have been held with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners or the National Police Chiefs’ Council about changes to the guidance on driving and diabetes. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) did hold informal discussions with police representatives in Autumn 2017 before clarifying its guidance for drivers with insulin-treated diabetes who drive emergency vehicles as part of their employment. The DVLA’s guidance was also amended in January 2018 to implement changes to European legislation. A targeted consultation was carried out with key stakeholders specialising in diabetes care or advice, before the changes were made.

Electric Vehicles: South East

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans are in place to improve the availability of charging facilities for electric cars in the south east of England.

Jesse Norman: The Government has supported charging infrastructure in the South East over a number of years. This includes £1.3m of public charging infrastructure in South East England through the National Infrastructure Grant Schemes, almost £10m for two Go Ultra Low Cities schemes in Milton Keynes and Oxford and almost £1m for rapid charging for taxis in Oxford, Slough and Cambridge. The Government now has in place a variety of UK-wide grant funding schemes to assist with the cost of installing chargepoints in motorists homes, on residential streets, at workplaces and across the wider public estate. In addition, the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (£200m new Government investment, to be matched by private investors), announced at Budget last year, will accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure by providing access to finance to companies that deliver chargepoints. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill gives the Government new powers to improve the provision of electric vehicle infrastructure, including powers to regulate technical standards of infrastructure to ensure easy compatibility with vehicles, to ensure provision of data on chargepoint locations and their availability, and to require provision of infrastructure at motorway service areas and large fuel retailers. Government’s wider role in the decarbonisation of road transport will be set out in the forthcoming Road to Zero strategy.

Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the UK economy of the development of the Thames Estuary announced by the Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission.

Joseph Johnson: The Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission’s report sets out an ambitious vision and delivery plan for north Kent, south Essex and east London up to 2050. The Government welcomes the publication of this report. The Thames Estuary is a major opportunity area with the potential to support growth right across the country. The Government will respond in full to the report, including any formal endorsement of its recommendations, within the next six months.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road tax payments were made (a) in full, (b) as monthly payments and (c) as two six-month payments in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: The following table shows the number of annual, monthly and six-monthly direct debit payments for vehicle excise duty since this facility was introduced in October 2014. Financial year12-month licence (Single payment)12-month licence (monthly payments)Six-month licence*2014/15 (1 October 2014 – to 31 March 2015)540,4214,009,244604,4472015/161,164,5748,880,4441,640,6502016/171,243,30110,762,8831,194,2942017/181,290,96311,471,366943.9722018/19 (1 April 2018 – 31 May 2018)212,4512,030,331141,654 *This column shows figures for all six-month vehicle licences paid for by direct debit. Not all of these payments will be for the same vehicle by the same keeper.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the revenue to the public purse as a result of the five per cent surcharge applied to road tax payments made monthly or as two six-month payments in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: The information requested is not readily available and could only be retrieved at disproportionate cost.

Gatwick Express Railway Line

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2018 to Question 150635 on Gatwick Express Railway Line, what assessment he has made of the ability of commuters using Preston Park station to access Thameslink services to get (a) to and (b) from London directly using (i) London Bridge and (ii) St Pancras stations; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: We have made clear that the level of service since the May 2018 timetable change is not acceptable. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), who run Southern and Thameslink services from Preston Park, have put additional stops on other services to ensure Preston Park has a service. GTR plan to publish a new interim timetable in mid-July which is designed to bring stability to the service. As the Hon Member is aware, the Department is currently undertaking a review into whether GTR has met their contractual obligations. This review will report to the Secretary of State in due course. He shall then consider what action may be appropriate following this report. This is in addition to Professor Stephen Glaister’s independent review of the implementation of the May 2018 rail timetable which will consider why the railway system as a whole failed to produce and implement an effective timetable.

Preston Park Station: Overcrowding

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to restore the level of service provided for Preston Park Station; if he will take steps to reduce overcrowding at that station; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: We have made clear that the level of service since the May 2018 timetable change is not acceptable and this includes for passengers from Preston Park. Govia Thameslink Railway, who run Southern and Thameslink services from Preston Park, have put additional stops on other services to ensure Preston Park has a service and to reduce overcrowding. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) plan to publish a new interim timetable in mid-July which is designed to bring stability to the service. As the Hon Member is aware, the Department is currently undertaking a review into whether GTR has met their contractual obligations. This review will report to the Secretary of State in due course. He shall then consider what action may be appropriate following this report. This is in addition to Professor Stephen Glaister’s independent review of the implementation of the May 2018 rail timetable which will consider why the railway system as a whole failed to produce and implement an effective timetable.

Govia Thameslink Railway

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Govia Thameslink Railway has been found to be in contravention of Schedule 10.1 of its franchise agreement; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The Secretary of State has announced a review to be carried out by the Department regarding whether Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has met their contractual obligations. This review will report to the Secretary of State in due course. He shall then consider what action may be appropriate following this report. This is in addition to Professor Stephen Glaister’s independent review of the implementation of the May 2018 rail timetable which will consider why the railway system as a whole failed to produce and implement an effective timetable.

East Coast Railway Line: Freight

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase freight capacity on the East Coast Main Line.

Joseph Johnson: The East Coast Main Line Enhancements Programme aims to provide the freight capacity required to meet the forecast increase in demand. The planned grade separation of Werrington Junction will enable freight traffic to more easily access the Great North Great Eastern line. This line runs parallel to the East Coast Main Line and provides good quality freight paths between Peterborough and Doncaster via Lincoln.

East Coast Railway Line

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the Power Supply Upgrade Phase 2 on the East Coast Main Line to be completed.

Joseph Johnson: The power supply on the East Coast Main Line from Doncaster to Edinburgh is being upgraded incrementally to support the introduction of the new Intercity Express trains and other electric rolling stock. Upgrades around Doncaster are planned for delivery in 2019 and the full set of upgrades is planned to be in place by the early 2020s.

Cycling and Walking: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve provision for (a) cycling and (b) walking as alternative transport options in Coventry.

Jesse Norman: It is for local highway authorities to manage their local road networks and to decide on appropriate provisions for cycling and walking. As part of the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, the Government identified £1.2 billion of funding which can be harnessed by local transport authorities to support cycling and walking. In addition, there are a number of funding streams which may also be spent on cycling and walking infrastructure: The £1.7 billion Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) to improve local transport links - including schemes to boost cycling and walking between city centres and suburbs. Greater Manchester recently allocated £160 million from the TCF to develop their “Beelines” cycling network. £220 million of capital and revenue funding through Defra’s Clean Air Fund up to 2021 – money which can be used by eligible local authorities to invest in the cycling and walking infrastructure – or projects to support cycling among employees. £5 billion of capital for the Housing Infrastructure Fund, aimed at supporting investment in a range of infrastructure to enable house building, including cycling and walking.

Railways: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of trends in rail passenger usage of (a) Coventry station and (b) all stations in the West Midlands in the last five years.

Joseph Johnson: Estimates of Station Usage are published annually by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). This publication contains estimates for the total number of passengers travelling to and from each station in Great Britain. Estimates of the number of entries and exits at Coventry station over the last five years are as follows:  2012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17Coventry5,641,0005,961,0006,253,0006,921,0007,378,000 Source: Office of Rail and Road, Estimates of Station UsageStation entries and exits are an estimation of the number of passenger journeys with an origin or final destination of Coventry. The methodology applied makes an assumption that the number of station entries and exits are equal. Journeys in which a passenger changes from one train to another at these stations in are presented separately as interchanges and are not included in these figures. Statistics on Regional Rail Usage are also published by the ORR and the number of rail journeys in the West Midlands over the last five years are as follows:  2012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17West Midlands74,051,00078,216,00080,563,00086,801,00091,457,000 Source: Office of Rail and Road, Regional rail usage These statistics estimate the number of journeys for which stations in West Midlands are an origin or a destination. This includes rail journeys to, from and within the West Midlands region. Estimates of station usage for each station throughout Great Britain are published on the ORR website at:http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates

Railways: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure the provision of compensation to passengers in Coventry affected by recent rail disruption.

Joseph Johnson: During periods of disruption, Delay Repay is the method of compensation available to passengers if their journey is delayed by 30 minutes or more.

Traffic Commissioners: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the establishment of the traffic office in Wales intended to support the Traffic Commissioner for Wales.

Jesse Norman: Work to establish the traffic office in Wales is underway. Premises in Bangor have now been identified, and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is in the process of securing quotes for fitting out these offices, which will be put to the Welsh Government for approval. Once the premises are confirmed, staff can be recruited. It is hoped that staff will be in position and the premises occupied by early 2019. The Welsh Government is also working to find office space for the Welsh Traffic Commissioner for his use when visiting Cardiff. In the long term this is likely to be in the new Welsh Government premises being built in Pontypridd, but as this will not be ready until circa 2021/2, the Welsh Government is seeking to place him in temporary accommodation in Cardiff.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Airbus Group: Job Security

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the article entitled Airbus jobs are secure, says BAE, published by the Daily Telegraph on  8 April 2006, whether his Department holds information on what the legal protections referred to in that article are.

Richard Harrington: We remain closely engaged with Airbus on a range of activities to ensure that the UK’s public interests are properly protected. Given the commercially sensitive nature of the discussions, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further on the details of any legal protections agreed.

Beer: Carbon Dioxide

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that the brewing industry has an adequate supply of CO2 to service (a) pubs and (b) retail outlets with (i) beer and (ii) cider in the next three months.

Andrew Griffiths: Holding answer received on 03 July 2018



The Government recognises the importance of the industrial gases sector, which underpins a number of sectors including food and drink. We understand the concerns of the food and drink sector due to the international carbon dioxide (CO2) shortage. I have spoken with UK producers and suppliers on a regular basis highlighting the need to restore supplies as quickly as possible and encouraged them to raise with the Government any issues where we may be able to help overcome any obstacles. We have been assured CO2 producers are working as fast as they can to get the remaining UK plant producing again, CO2 distribution from previously disrupted plants is already reaching the supply chain and the overall CO2 supply has increased this week. Any residual disruption should be resolved in the coming days as the sector returns to business as usual. I have had discussions with pub and retail outlets about the situation and their concerns. BEIS and DEFRA officials have also been in regular contact with food and drink industry stakeholders via DEFRA’s long-established Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group and other interested stakeholders, including alcoholic drink, pub and retailer trade associations.

Energy: Public Consultation

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 17 May 2018 on Energy Policy HCWS690, when he plans to publish the consultation on energy policy.

Claire Perry: As set out in the Written Statement, the Government committed to consulting in summer 2018.

Carillion: Contracts

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of sub-contractors who worked directly for Carillion that have been declared bankrupt in the last six months.

Andrew Griffiths: Holding answer received on 03 July 2018



Government does not have a record of the number of sub-contractors who worked directly for Carillion that have been declared bankrupt in the last six months. We established a Government Taskforce with representatives from the construction sector, small business, trade unions and the banks to look at how best to mitigate the impact of Carillion’s insolvency. This has enabled the production of targeted advice to Carillion employees, suppliers and those working the supply chain.

Retail Sector Council

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how often the retail sector council is planned to meet; what the scope of that council is; and what work it is undertaking.

Andrew Griffiths: The Retail Sector Council held its first meeting in March this year, and its second meeting on 25th June. The Council is industry led and brings Government and industry together to boost the sector’s productivity and economic health. There are a range of retailers and retail associations on the Council, and all types of retail activity in the UK are in scope.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Conflict, Stability and Security Fund

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many projects supported by his Department and funded through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund have been terminated as a result of concerns about human rights violations.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many projects led by his Department and funded through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund have been terminated as a result of concerns about funding being diverted to terrorist groups.

Boris Johnson: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spent over 61% of the £1,182m Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) in FY 17/18, running programmes across the world. FCO-led foreign policy projects and programmes help advance our national security interests and the UK Aid Strategy’s objectives. Decisions on ending programmes are based on a wide range of factors. We take robust and swift action if there are allegations of funds being diverted to terrorist groups, and we continue to apply HMG’s Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) guidance. The OSJA guidance is designed to ensure that our assistance meets the UK’s human rights obligations and values.Since the start of FY 17/18 we have made the decision to close two Conflict Stability and Security Fund projects in relation to which concerns of this nature had been raised.The first of these is the Access to Justice and Community Service (AJACS) programme. We have recently made a decision to draw down funding to this programme by the end of September. The AJACS project supports security and stability in opposition-held regions of Syria by supporting the operation of the Free Syria Police. Over recent months, we judge the situation on the ground in those regions has become more difficult, shifting the balance between the potential gains and the risks of this project. Risks include those relating to proper use of programme funds, influence of armed groups, and human rights.The second project is subject to post-contract due diligence, and as such I am unable to offer more information at this stage.

Spratly Islands

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with Government of the Philippines in respect of Chinese actions in the Spratly Islands.

Mark Field: We regularly engage the Philippines Government on tensions in the South China Sea. Our Ambassador in Manila often raises the South China Sea with a range of stakeholders, most recently with the Acting Chief Justice, Antonio Carpio. In May the FCO Permanent Under-Secretary raised the matter with Enrique Manalo, the Philippines Under-Secretary at the Department of Foreign Affairs. We underscored the importance of the rule of law and freedom of navigation and overflight.The UK does not take sides or support any sovereignty claim over another. Our commitment is to international law and freedom of navigation and overflight. The UK is opposed to militarisation of the South China Sea. We urge all parties to respect freedom of navigation and settle their disputes peacefully in accordance with international law.

Iraq: Kurds

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the US Administration on enabling the Kurds to hold on to territory that they have taken from Isis in order to achieve regional autonomy; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: ​We support the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and engage regularly with our US partners. We work closely with the US in support of our ongoing priorities of defeating Daesh and reaching a political settlement to the conflict. The Syrian Democratic Forces continue to make an important contribution to counter-Daesh efforts.We support an inclusive political process to achieve a political settlement that ends the conflict and protects the rights of all Syrians including Kurds. The UK believes that Syria's future constitutional arrangements should be resolved through an inclusive political process under UN auspices in line with Security Council Resolution 2254.

South Sudan: Sanctions

Sir Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to date to use the powers in the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 Bill to implement sanctions on leaders in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act provides the power for the UK to impose sanctions regimes after the UK has left the EU, including against individuals involved in gross human rights abuses via the so-called Magnitsky clauses.The UK is committed to promoting peace and strengthening human rights in South Sudan, and to holding to account those responsible for the worst violations. The UK currently has a range of powers that we use to sanction individuals flowing from the European Communities Act. This includes the power to sanction individuals for human rights abuses, which we deploy regularly to protect national security. We will continue to explore all avenues for action against those who work to undermine peace in South Sudan.

South Sudan: Sanctions

Sir Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage African Union leaders to implement sanctions on leaders in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: Through sustained bilateral engagement by myself and senior officials across the region, the British Government is urging InterGovernmental Authority on Deveoplment (IGAD) member states and African Union leaders to take action against those who have violated the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.We welcome the renewed commitment by the parties in the Khartoum Declaration to a permanent ceasefire. Both the region and the parties to the conflict must ensure that the agreement is implemented in full and without delay, and that it is robustly and independently monitored. However, the new ceasefire does not negate the need to respond to the continued and repeated violations of the December 2017 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. We stand ready to support action by IGAD and the African Union to signal an end to impunity by delivering punitive measures against those responsible.

Leah Sharibu

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Nigerian authorities on the fate of Leah Sharibu, a school girl kidnapped in Nigeria.

Harriett Baldwin: The Foreign Secretary spoke to Vice President Osinbajo on 26 February and extended an offer of additional UK assistance following the abductions from Dapchi. We continue to call for the release of all those abducted by Boko Haram. Attacks on schools and abductions of children are abhorrent and must stop. The Government of Nigeria has said they are making all efforts to secure her release. The UK is resolute in its support for Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram, and are providing a substantial package of intelligence, military and humanitarian support to assist in the response to the ongoing conflict.

Bangladesh: Politics and Government

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has made an assessment of the validity of claims in the media that the Bangladesh Government's war on drugs may be being used to target political opponents.

Mark Field: ​Political figures from both major parties – the incumbent Awami League, and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party – have been caught up in the recent escalation of Government of Bangladesh's war on drugs. At the present time, we see no clear pattern that would indicate the deliberate targeting of political opponents by the government in the war on drugs. I recognise the social and economic costs of illegal drug trafficking for Bangladesh and the need for effective policing to tackle this. But I remain concerned by the number of deaths in these operations. I tweeted on 6 June, I expect Bangladesh to uphold due legal process and safeguards on the use of force. I made this clear in person to Bangladeshi counterparts when in Dhaka on 1 July

Gulf States: Overseas Aid

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which country is the largest beneficiary of the Integrated Activity Fund’s Gulf Strategy to date.

Alistair Burt: The IAF funds activity in all six Gulf States: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Many of the projects and programme activities are delivered regionally, so it is not possible to provide a breakdown by beneficiary state.

Belarus: LGBT People

Mrs Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to the Government of Belarus on the arrest and detention in prison of students in Minsk on 28 June 2018; what steps the Government is taking to promote the importance of equal rights for LGBT+ people internationally; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK is working through our Diplomatic Missions to monitor and raise human rights issues, including the promotion of LGBT+ rights, in host countries. The UK is also working with the UN, EU, OSCE, The Council of Europe and the Commonwealth to promote tolerance and non- discrimination against LGBT+ people. With regard to Belarus, our Embassy in Minsk is closely monitoring the situation of LGBT+ people, including this latest case of four Belarussian nationals arrested following a protest in support of LGBT+ rights outside the Belarus Ministry of Interior, and regularly raises this issue with the Belarusian authorities. The Embassy flew the Rainbow flag on 17 May to mark of International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

British Nationals Abroad: Terrorism

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much of the budget for the Joint Official Unit on Paris and Sousse was spent directly on outreach and support for victims and survivors of terrorism in each financial year since 2014-2015.

Alistair Burt: ​A Ministerial Committee supported by a Joint Officials Unit (JOU) was set up as a response to terrorist attacks in Tunisia on 26 June 2015. The JOU delivered a significant family engagement programme that included a series of Town Hall meetings across the UK with the bereaved, injured and witnesses; a bespoke mental health Screen and Treat programme; support on accessing compensation; and a Service of Solemn Commemoration at Westminster Abbey. The Programme has since been extended to anyone directly affected by the attacks in Brussels on 22 March 2016 and Nice on 14 July 2016. These activities were funded from within existing Departmental budgets, and as such we are not able to provide separate budget costs.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Horizon 2020

Dame Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the financial viability of research projects in receipt of funding from Horizon 2020 after that funding ceases in 2020.

Mr Steve Baker: The Withdrawal Agreement ensures that UK entities’ right to participate in EU programmes, such as Horizon 2020, will be unaffected by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU for the lifetime of projects financed by the current MFF, including where funding agreed before the end of the transition period extends beyond 2020. UK based organisations and individuals will be able to bid for funding, participate in and lead consortia, until programme closure. This provides valuable reassurance to UK researchers and institutions that they can continue to collaborate with European partners for the lifetime of projects financed by the current MFF, and vice versa. Once agreed as part of the Withdrawal Treaty, this will supersede the requirement for the domestic guarantee announced by the Government in 2016. UK organisations should continue to bid for EU funding with the assurance that payments will continue after our departure from the EU.

Ports: North East

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent discussions he has had with ports in the North East of England; and what was discussed in those meetings.

Mr Steve Baker: Ministerial colleagues and I continue to engage widely across the country, to discuss the priorities and issues of all interested parties as we leave the European Union. The Secretary of State delivered a major speech on the implementation period at Teessport on 26 January, and met with stakeholders there. Details of ministerial engagements are published on GOV.UK in the quarterly departmental transparency returns.

Department of Health and Social Care

Hepatitis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people had Hepatitis C in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: Public Health England receives laboratory reports of hepatitis C cases from England and Wales; these reports are presented by year in the following tables and the figures reflect those who have been tested. Data for the combined laboratory reports for England and Wales are available from 2013 and published in the Quarterly laboratory-confirmed hepatitis A virus and hepatitis C reports in England and Wales, available to view at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laboratory-reports-of-hepatitis-a-and-c-2017 The most recent estimates suggest that in 2015, around 160,000 people in England are living with hepatitis C infection. Laboratory reports of hepatitis C by year, England and Wales; 2013 to 2016Year2013201420152016Number of laboratory reports11,69211,99711,62611,322Source: From the Health Protection Report: Laboratory reports of hepatitis C: annual data Laboratory reports of hepatitis C in year 2012, EnglandYear2012Number of laboratory reports10,987Source: Hepatitis C in England: 2018 report https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/693917/HCV_in_England_2018.pdf Laboratory reports of hepatitis C in year 2012, WalesYear2012Number of laboratory reports502Source: Hepatitis C in the UK 2015: annual report https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/448710/NEW_FINAL_HCV_2015_IN_THE_UK_REPORT_28072015_v2.pdf

Dementia

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made in its work with the Alzheimer's Research UK on the the dementia access taskforce.

Caroline Dinenage: Officials in the Department are engaged with the work of the taskforce, which met for the first time recently. The Government remains strongly committed to supporting research into dementia and the United Kingdom research community is playing a significant role in the global effort to find a cure or a major disease-modifying treatment by 2025.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Medical Treatments

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to review NICE guidelines on the treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for determining whether its guidance should be updated to take into account new evidence. NICE is currently updating its clinical guideline on the diagnosis and management of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis and is consulting stakeholders on a draft scope for the guideline update.

Dietetics

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure ease and speed of access to dietitians for patients in hospital, care home and community care settings.

Caroline Dinenage: It is local clinical commissioning groups that determine services to be commissioned to meet local needs. Dietitians work with people to promote nutritional wellbeing, prevent food-related problems and treat disease. NHS England has published ‘Commissioning Guidance for Rehabilitation’. Dietitians are included in the range of rehabilitation health professionals and a number of examples of good practice include dietetics. The guidance can be accessed at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/rehabilitation-comms-guid-16-17.pdf In addition, the NHS England guidance ‘Commissioning Excellent Nutrition and Hydration (2015-2018)’ supports commissioners to develop strategies and address issues related to improvements in delivery and commissioning of nutrition and hydration needs in acute services and the community and role of dietitians.

Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether a review of NICE’s methodology for technology appraisal is (a) planned and (b) under discussion as part of the renegotiation of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme.

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2018 to Question 130691 on the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme, what progress his Department is making on formal negotiations on the next Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme.

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had on enabling more innovative and flexible pricing in the next Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme to accommodate the increasing number of combination treatments for many areas of disease.

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the role of NHS England is in the ongoing re-negotiation of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme.

Steve Brine: The Government is committed to supporting the United Kingdom life sciences industry and ensuring that patients can access cost-effective innovative medicines and technologies at a price the National Health Service can afford. The Department has regular and ongoing dialogue with NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on matters related to medicines pricing and patient access to new treatments. We have been listening to industry feedback and discussing how the medicines market is likely to evolve over the next five years. Negotiations between the Government and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industries on future medicines pricing arrangements are ongoing. NHS England is involved in these negotiations.

Mental Health Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the publication of the Urgent and Emergency Mental Health Care for All Ages Pathway.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Urgent and Emergency Mental Health Care for All Ages Pathway is being reviewed to ensure that it is in line with and supports the developing long-term plan for the National Health Service. The aim is to ensure it provides the most helpful and relevant guidance to both commissioners and providers within the current context. No timescale for publication has currently been established.

Mental Health Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Acute Mental Health Care Pathway for Adults and Older Adults is planned to include waiting times benchmarks.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Prompt access is an essential component of safe care for acutely unwell people. The Acute Mental Health Care Pathway for Adults and Older Adults Pathway, which is currently being finalised for publication, is planned to include key interventions focused on ensuring that people are not waiting an undue length of time to access acute mental health care, whether in an inpatient or community setting. The pathway will draw on existing good practice examples from areas where timely access is consistently delivered, highlighting the common features of these systems which make this possible, such as robust community-based provision and whole-system capacity management.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the recent Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust report Computer says no, whether he plans to undertake a review of the cervical screening IT infrastructure; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The outcomes of the independent review announced on 2 May 2018, following the breast screening incident, will help to inform IT system proposals for other national screening programmes such as cervical screening. This review is due to report by November. NHS England and Public Health England are committed to the introduction of a primary human papillomavirus screening test as part of the national cervical screening programme in 2019. This includes working with Primary Care Support England on a new IT system to support cervical screening.

Aortic Aneurysm: Screening

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the NHS Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Programme since its establishment in 2009.

Steve Brine: The NHS Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) Screening Programme aims to reduce deaths from AAA through early detection, and invites men registered with a general practitioner for ultrasound screening during the year they turn 65. Since the NHS AAA Screening Programme was rolled out, it has screened more than 1.3 million men, detected more than 16,000 aneurysms and referred around 4,000 men for treatment. A paper published in the British Journal of Surgery in 2016 looked at the impact of the NHS AAA Screening Programme in its first five years and its conclusion was that the processes in the programme are effective in detecting and treating men with AAA.

Aortic Aneurysm: Surgery

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients presenting with a large abdominal aortic aneuryism measuring 5.5cm or more across have been treated through (a) endovascular repair and (b) open vascular surgery by the NHS in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: The information is not available in the requested format. NHS Digital is instead able to provide a count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a main or secondary procedure of endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), open vascular surgery of AAA and embolisation of a giant (2cm or larger) AAA, 2012-13 to 2016-17. Count of FAEs with a main or secondary procedure of endovascular repair of AAA, open vascular surgery of AAA and embolisation of a giant AAA, 2012-13 to 2016-17 Activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sectorProcedure2012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17Endovascular repair2,3832,6782,7672,8192,926Vascular repair1,7711,6811,6391,4331,456Coil embolisation-1---Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital. Notes: It should be noted that it is only possible to classify the size of an AAA when a coil embolisation has been performed, therefore endovascular and vascular repair represent repair of AAAs of any size and coil embolisation has been provided as additional information. An FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period. It should be noted that the data should not be described as a count of people as the same person may have been admitted on one or more occasion.

Aortic Aneurysm: Medical Treatments

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the number of elderly patients who are unfit for open surgery but receive endovascular treatments of following draft NICE guidance on abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect of the draft guidance on abdominal aortic aneurysms proposed by NICE on NHS bed capacity.

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to draft NICE guidance on abdominal aortic aneurysms, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on outcomes for women of removing the option to receive endovascular treatment.

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the availability of customised fenestrated endografts for patients with complex abdominal aortic aneurysms of following draft NICE guidance on such aneurysms.

Steve Brine: We have made no such assessment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and has not yet published final guidance on the diagnosis and management of abdominal aortic aneurysm. NICE has recently consulted on its draft guideline and will take the comments it has received in response to the consultation fully into account in finalising its recommendations.

National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the co-location of NHS services at the National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine in Sheffield increased the provision of musculoskeletal services.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine in Sheffield on (a) the health of NHS staff, (b) the well-being of NHS staff and (c) the finances of participating NHS trusts.

Steve Brine: No specific assessment has been made. The National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM) is a London 2012 Olympic legacy commitment that aims to improve the health of the nation through sport, exercise and physical activity. In Sheffield, the NCSEM is a partnership consisting of 12 stakeholders that represent all elements of civic life in the city. The vision is to create a culture of physical activity that sees Sheffield become the most active city in the United Kingdom by 2020. As a way of enhancing the role of physical activity as a viable treatment option in National Health Service care, existing clinical services were re-located (where appropriate and practical) into the NCSEM facilities. At these centres patients receive their usual NHS care but do so in an environment that promotes physical activity. On an annual basis around 80,000 patients are referred to one of the NCSEM Sheffield centres at Graves, Concord or Thorncliffe. The vast majority of these referrals are for musculoskeletal service-related conditions. This is considered an important marker of success for the partnership and underlines the commitment to delivering the NCSEM and musculoskeletal vision in Sheffield.

National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the role the National Centre for Sports and Medicine in Sheffield in utilising technology to increase physical activity in the school yard.

Steve Brine: The Department has not carried out any assessment of this specific project nor the breadth of other works that the National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine undertake to increase physical activity.

Cancer: Nurses

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many specialist teenage and young adult cancer nurses there were in the NHS in (a) 2015 (b) 2016 (c) 2017.

Steve Brine: The data is not available in the format requested.

NHS: Disclosure of Information

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of protections for NHS whistleblowers who make disclosures about administrative malpractice.

Caroline Dinenage: Speaking up and raising concerns should be routine in business in the National Health Service and is a key part of ensuring patient safety and improving the quality of services. The Government supports the right of staff working in the NHS to raise concerns and expects all NHS organisations to support staff that wish to do so in line with the principles made by the Francis Report in 2015. NHS workers making disclosures about administrative malpractice are protected by the provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996, which covers disclosures made on public interest issues, including criminal offences, breaches of legal obligations and danger to the health and safety of the individual. The Government has also introduced a range of measures to protect whistleblowers in recent years. These changes include:-Legislation to impose a duty on prescribed persons (such as the Care Quality Commission and the professional regulatory bodies) to report annually on whistleblowing disclosures made to them;-Extending the definition of ‘worker’ within the whistleblowing statutory framework to include and protect student nurses and student midwives; and-The Employment Rights Act 1996 (NHS Recruitment - Protected Disclosure) Regulations came into force on 23 May 2018 to prohibit certain NHS employers from discriminating against job applicants because it appears to the employer that the applicant has made certain disclosures of information.

NHS: Bullying and Harassment

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking in response to allegations of bullying and harassment in NHS institutions.

Stephen Barclay: Bullying and harassment of staff is unacceptable, that is why the Government, as highlighted in its manifesto, is taking concerted action, to support trusts who are responsible for dealing with allegations of bullying. Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors consider a range of evidence, including speaking to staff and National Health Service staff survey results, to gain a broader picture of the leadership and culture within NHS organisations. They also ask whether organisations have signed up, and what plans they have in place, to implement the national ‘call to action’ to tackle bullying. The CQC renewed their guidance to providers for the Fit and Proper Person’s Requirement (FPPR) earlier this year, including explicit inclusion of bullying and harassment as an example of serious mismanagement and serious misconduct. Following the Kirkup Review, published in February 2018, the Government has launched the Kark Review to further assess the effectiveness of FPPR in ensuring the conduct of senior leaders within health and social care meets required standards. The use of body cameras to help protect paramedics from abuse will be trialled in two ambulance services before being rolled out across all ambulance services in England. The National Guardian’s Office, established in 2016 to support speaking up, also makes recommendations to tackle bullying and harassment cultures as part of its case review programme. Other actions to tackle bullying include a recent seminar to identify good practice in line manager training, others seminars will raise awareness of the impact of bullying on patient experience and identify good practice to tackle the bullying of doctors, nurses and other clinical staff. NHS trusts already have access to a wide range of advice, guidance and good practice to help them tackle bullying in their organisations, which is available at the following link: https://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/retain-and-improve/staff-experience/tackling-bullying-in-the-nhs

Hospitals: Admissions

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the average length of hospital inpatient stays in the last three years.

Stephen Barclay: The average length of hospital inpatient stays has reduced slightly from 5.0 days in 2014/15 to 4.9 days in 2016/17 despite the National Health Service dealing with increasingly complex medical conditions, particularly amongst frail and elderly patients. In June 2018, the National Health Service announced plans to improve patient care by reducing long stays in hospitals. The NHS, working with local authorities, aims to reduce the number of long staying patients by around a quarter, freeing up more than 4,000 beds in time for next winter.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients with diabetes have suffered from hypoglycemic shock while staying in hospital in each of the last three years.

Steve Brine: Information is available on the proportion of inpatients in England and Wales with diabetes experiencing mild and/or severe hypoglycaemic episodes in the seven days prior to the date of the audit. The latest results are published in the 2017 National Diabetes Inpatient Audit (NaDIA), covering the years 2011 to 2017. A summary of the results for the last three available years from 2015 to 2017 is in the following table: Inpatients having one or more hypoglycaemic episode in last seven days, England and Wales, 2015-17Audit year201520162017%%%Mild hypoglycaemic episode20.018.516.6Severe hypoglycaemic episode9.88.47.0Any hypoglycaemic episode21.820.018.4 Notes:Reference to associated analysis: NaDIA 2017 annual report, slide 81: https://files.digital.nhs.uk/powerpoint/s/5/nadia-17-rep.pptx A patient was included in the audit if they had been admitted to a hospital bed for 24 hours or more. Patients on an obstetric or paediatric ward were excluded from this audit. Mental health wards were also excluded due to the high prevalence of long stay patients. Other exclusions included:- Patients who were hyperglycaemic but not yet formally diagnosed with diabetes;- Accident and Emergency;- Day case ward;- Day surgery unit patients;- Observation ward (if patients had been admitted for less than 24 hours);- Surgical short stay unit (if patients had been admitted for less than 24 hours);- Palliative care centres; and- Community hospitals.Mild hypoglycaemic episode; Blood glucose level = 3.0-3.9mmol/L.Severe hypoglycaemic episode; Blood glucose level less than 3.0mmol/l.There was no NaDIA collection or report in 2014.

Mental Health Services: Waiting Lists

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long the average wait is for someone to see a mental health specialist after being referred.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This information is not held in the format requested.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his Department's policy to maintain the same level of funding for the Diabetes Transformation Fund in future financial years.

Steve Brine: NHS England’s budgets for 2019/20 and beyond, including how any funding for transformation will be deployed, will be set as part of the National Health Service planning round in the normal way, informed by the development of the long-term plan for the NHS.

Knives: Crime

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost is of treating knife crime victims in hospitals.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not collect data on the costs of treating victims of knife crime.

Hospitals

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his policy is on the implementation of proposed reconfigurations of hospital services by clinical commissioning groups and Trusts where such proposals (a) have been referred to him and (b) are subject to a judicial review.

Stephen Barclay: Decisions about reconfigurations are properly for the local National Health Service to take, informed by local stakeholders. NHS England has produced a guide for those considering, and involved in, substantial service change to navigate a clear path from inception to implementation. It is intended to support commissioners and providers to consider how to take forward their proposals, including effective public involvement, enabling them to reach robust decisions on change in the best interests of their patients, and can be found at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/planning-assuring-and-delivering-service-change-for-patients/ The Department also produces guidance on local oversight and scrutiny, which explains the regulations and policy background for the scrutiny of local health services, and which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-to-local-authorities-on-scrutinising-health-services Some such proposals do go through the judicial review process, and in those cases participants will need to follow the judgement of the Court in their own particular case. Proposals can also be referred to the Secretary of State, under the oversight and scrutiny arrangements. Each case is considered on its merits, and that process determines any conclusions that may be made. Participants in such cases are expected to put those conclusions into practice.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many clinical commissioning groups offer three full cycles of IVF to women under 40 years old in accordance with NICE guidelines.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not collect official data on this subject matter. However, the national stakeholder organisation, Fertility Fairness, undertakes an annual survey using Freedom of Information requests directly from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Information collected for 2016/17 shows that 18 CCGs offer three cycles of IVF, in line with the current NICE fertility guidelines.

Tranexamic Acid

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of bleeding trauma patients received IV tranexamic acid within one hour of injury by (a) ambulance trust and (b) trauma centre in the last 12 months.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is not centrally collected.

Heart Diseases and Strokes: Air Pollution

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of premature deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke attributed to air pollution.

Steve Brine: The Department has commissioned Public Health England (PHE) to conduct a review of the evidence for effective interventions to reduce harm from air pollution. PHE is also providing support to local authorities on interpreting the evidence relating to local air pollution and its impact on public health. PHE is working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and other stakeholders to inform individuals with heart conditions of the appropriate advice regarding reducing exposure to air pollutants, including when pollution levels are elevated.

Hospitals: Electronic Cigarettes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure the provision of vaping areas that are separate from smoking areas in NHS hospital grounds.

Steve Brine: The provision of separate vaping areas is a matter for individual National Health Service organisations. Public Health England (PHE) has published advice to support organisations in developing policies on vaping in public places and workplaces. Such policies should be based on the evidence and support smokers to quit while managing any identified risks. The Government would encourage NHS organisations to consult PHE’s guidance in developing their policies on vaping.

Influenza: Vaccination

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS routinely provides a vaccine for Aussie flu.

Steve Brine: Each year, the World Health Organization monitor the circulation of the influenza virus and make a recommendation to vaccine manufacturers as to what particular strains to include in the vaccine that they produce. All flu vaccines offered in England, both trivalent and quadrivalent, include the H3N2 sub-type. This was the sub-type that was predominantly circulating in Australia last year and has been labelled by some as 'Aussie flu'.

Diabetes: Sleep

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance (a) his Department and (b) the NHS provides to people with diabetes on sleeping well.

Steve Brine: No specific guidance is provided to people with diabetes on sleeping well. However, information is available on NHS Choices on how regular poor sleep can lead to serious medical conditions including diabetes and can be found at the following link: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/why-lack-of-sleep-is-bad-for-your-health/#sleep-prevents-diabetes

General Practitioners

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs there are for every 100,000 people.

Steve Brine: As of September 2017, there were 76.3 headcount general practitioners (GPs) per 100,000 population in England. Notes: 1. Data source: NHS Digital (based on Office for National Statistics population estimates).2. Figures contain estimates for the 5.4% of practices that did not provide fully valid GP data.3. Figures shown do not include GPs working in prisons, army bases, educational establishments, specialist care centres including drug rehabilitation centres and walk-in centres.4. Data as at 30 September.

NHS: Doctors and Nurses

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the retention rate for NHS (a) nurses and (b) doctors in England has been in each of the last three years for which data are available.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Digital publishes workforce statistics and the following table shows the annual stability index of nurses and doctors, between 30 September 2014 and 30 September 2017, in National Health Service trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England, headcount:  September 2014 to September 2015September 2015 to September 2016September 2016 to September 2017Nurses and health visitors88.0%88.3%88.3%Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) Doctors including doctors in training82.9%84.9%85.4% Source: NHS Digital NHS HCHS workforce statistics. The Stability Index is the percentage of staff at the start of the period that do not leave the specified group (e.g. nurses and health visitors) during the period in question. For example, if a trust had 100 nurses in July and a year later 90 of those nurses remained in post, the Stability Index would be 90/100 expressed as a percentage: 90%. A staff member will be counted as a leaver only if he/she leaves the NHS altogether, or if they move to a new staff group, i.e. stop being a nurse. Movers between trusts but who stay within the same staff group are not counted as leavers.

Hemel Hempstead Hospital

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his recent visit to Watford Hospital when he plans to visit the Hemel Hempstead Hospital site.

Stephen Barclay: There are no current plans for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to visit Hemel Hempstead Hospital, part of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Dialysis Machines

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average yearly cost per patient is of dialysis treatment and management.

Steve Brine: This data is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the total activity, total cost and national average unit cost for all types of renal dialysis. The activity count for renal dialysis is the number of sessions, not the number of patients. All data shown is for financial year 2016-17, the most recent year for which reference costs have been collected. National Health Service references costs data can be found at the following link: https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/reference-costs/ ActivityNational Average Cost for 2016/17Total Cost4,240,850£133.88£567,754,893 The individual Healthcare Resource Groups (HRGs) which make up these data can be found in the following table. 2016-17 HRGs for renal dialysisHRGHRG DescriptionLD01AHospital Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Haemodialysis Catheter, 19 years and overLD01BHospital Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Haemodialysis Catheter, 18 years and underLD02AHospital Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Arteriovenous Fistula or Graft, 19 years and overLD02BHospital Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Arteriovenous Fistula or Graft, 18 years and underLD03AHospital Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Haemodialysis Catheter, with Blood-Borne Virus, 19 years and overLD03BHospital Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Haemodialysis Catheter, with Blood-Borne Virus, 18 years and underLD04AHospital Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Arteriovenous Fistula or Graft, with Blood-Borne Virus, 19 years and overLD04BHospital Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Arteriovenous Fistula or Graft, with Blood-Borne Virus, 18 years and underLD05ASatellite Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Haemodialysis Catheter, 19 years and overLD05BSatellite Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Haemodialysis Catheter, 18 years and underLD06ASatellite Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Arteriovenous Fistula or Graft, 19 years and overLD06BSatellite Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Arteriovenous Fistula or Graft, 18 years and underLD07ASatellite Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Haemodialysis Catheter, with Blood-Borne Virus, 19 years and overLD08ASatellite Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Arteriovenous Fistula or Graft, with Blood-Borne Virus, 19 years and overLD08BSatellite Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Arteriovenous Fistula or Graft, with Blood-Borne Virus, 18 years and underLD09AHome Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Haemodialysis Catheter, 19 years and overLD09BHome Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Haemodialysis Catheter, 18 years and underLD10AHome Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Arteriovenous Fistula or Graft, 19 years and overLD10BHome Haemodialysis or Filtration, with Access via Arteriovenous Fistula or Graft, 18 years and underLD11AContinuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis, 19 years and overLD11BContinuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis, 18 years and underLD12AAutomated Peritoneal Dialysis, 19 years and overLD12BAutomated Peritoneal Dialysis, 18 years and underLD13AAssisted Automated Peritoneal Dialysis, 19 years and overLD13BAssisted Automated Peritoneal Dialysis, 18 years and underLE01AHaemodialysis for Acute Kidney Injury, 19 years and overLE01BHaemodialysis for Acute Kidney Injury, 18 years and underLE02APeritoneal Dialysis for Acute Kidney Injury, 19 years and overLE02BPeritoneal Dialysis for Acute Kidney Injury, 18 years and under

Speech and Language Disorders: Children

Rebecca Pow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the I CAN and Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ report of 20 March 2018, Bercow: Ten Years On, as part of the Government's long-term settlement for the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department will consider the implications of this independent report with all the relevant organisations for which there are recommendations, and respond in due course.

Scientific Advisory Committee On Nutrition

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2018 to Question 147850 on Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, what need was identified (a) through horizon scanning and (b) at the request of government for each nutritional risk assessment carried out in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) undertakes risk assessment activities in response to emerging evidence and/or views from other expert bodies; requests from the sponsoring departments; and/or horizon scanning. SACN last undertook horizon scanning at their meeting on 19 June 2018; the draft minutes of this meeting will be published on the SACN website by the end of July 2018. Nutritional needs identified by SACN over the last five years are numerous and are included in individual reports and position statements published on the SACN website: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/scientific-advisory-committee-on-nutrition#reports

Scientific Advisory Committee On Nutrition

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2018 to Question 147851, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of (a) malnutrition and (b) nutrition intake in the general population as set out in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey; and if he will make (i) it his policy to request advice from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition on how malnutrition in the general population can be tackled and (ii) a statement.

Steve Brine: There are no current plans to request advice from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition on how malnutrition in the general population can be tackled. The National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) collects information on diet and nutrient intakes and nutritional status but does not assess the prevalence of malnutrition in the population. Malnutrition is a complex, multifactorial condition which develops over a period of time, and for which there is no single agreed medical definition. NDNS assesses an individual’s diet and nutritional status at a single point in time and cannot assess other factors associated with malnutrition such as weight loss, or malabsorption of nutrients due to disease. It is therefore not possible to classify individuals as malnourished solely from the data collected in NDNS. Data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey collected between 2008 and 2016 shows that nutrient intakes have changed relatively little over this period with the exception of free sugars and salt. Mean intakes of free sugars for adults (19-64 years) and children (4-10 and 11-18 years) were significantly lower in 2014/16 than in 2008/10 though remained more than double the recommended maximum in all age groups. Mean salt intake in adults, assessed through urinary sodium surveys, was 11% lower in 2014 than in 2006 but also remained above the recommended maximum. Mean intakes of fibre in children were significantly lower in 2014/16 than in 2008/10 and were below the recommendation. There were no consistent trends in intakes of total or saturated fat, total carbohydrate, or for vitamins or minerals.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Admissions

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the timetable for the introduction of an indicator on the Care Commissioning Group  Improvement and Assessment Framework to measure the proportion of people with three or more emergency admissions in their final 90 days of life.

Steve Brine: The clinical commissioning group Improvement and Assessment framework contains an indicator to measure the percentage of deaths with three or more emergency admissions in last three months of life. This was introduced for 2017/18, published on 21 November 2017.

Speech and Language Disorders: Children

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure that his Department's response to the consultation on health education will include analysis of the child population and how demand for services relating to childrens' speech, language and communication needs will be provided.

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure that his Department's response to the consultation on Health Education will consider the workforce implications of the increasing incidence of dysphagia and the risks that poses to patients if it is not properly managed.

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure that his response to his recent consultation on health education supports the workforce delivering public health, prevention and rehabilitation in relation to patients' speech, language and communication needs.

Caroline Dinenage: Health Education England (HEE) published ‘Facing the Facts, Shaping the Future’ in December 2017. The consultation is now closed and HEE is working with its partners across health and social care to develop a final strategy, which it will publish later this year. HEE’s workforce strategy will ensure that there are enough staff, with the right skills and experience to deliver high quality health and care services over the long term. This will include how HEE will ensure there are a sufficient number of Allied Health Professionals (including speech and language therapists), nurses and doctors to meet demand for both adult and children's services.

Lyme Disease

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) National Institute for Health Research and (b) Medical Research Council on research into improving treatments for Lyme disease.

Caroline Dinenage: The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has had no recent discussions with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and Medical Research Council specifically on research into improving treatments for Lyme disease. The Department commissioned four independent separate systematic reviews of all relevant literature on the diagnosis, treatment, transmission and prevention of Lyme disease. The four systematic reviews were completed and published in December 2017. Each review made conclusions which the Government is taking forward. We are investing over £1 billion a year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The usual practice of the NIHR is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including on Lyme disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Eating Disorders

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122582, when NHS England plans to make a formal response to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Health Services Ombudsman's report entitled Ignoring the alarms: How NHS eating disorder services are failing patients.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England has written to the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman, and the family concerned, setting out how they will implement the recommendations contained in the report ‘Ignoring the alarms: how NHS eating disorder services are failing patients’, and specifically the actions that will be taken to review the provision of adult eating disorder services.

Naloxone: Prisoners

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2018 to Question 153247 on prisons issuing Naloxone, in which month in 2019 the collated data are expected to be published.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The data on prisons issuing Naloxone is expected to be published in January 2019 in the ‘Substance misuse treatment in secure settings: statistics 2017 to 2018’.

Department for International Development

Lebanon: Refugees

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department provided to refugees in Lebanon in winter 2017-18 to help tackle winter conditions.

Alistair Burt: The UK provides sustainable, lifesaving support to refugees in Lebanon all year round, including through the winter period. UK aid is providing unrestricted cash assistance to meet the basic needs of 60,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees; improved shelter accommodation for over 30,000 vulnerable refugees; legal assistance and advice (e.g. to obtain birth/marriage registration and civil documentation) to over 100,000 individuals; and clean water and sanitation facilities for over 250,000 Syrian and poor Lebanese. Last winter, DFID also provided 380 heating stoves to vulnerable Syrian refugee households in need of specific wintertime support. Since the start of the crisis, DFID has allocated £608 million in humanitarian and development funding to Lebanon.

South Africa: Economic Growth

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she had had with the Government of South Africa on increasing economic growth in that country.

Harriett Baldwin: Discussions between UK and South African Ministers on joint priorities, including shared prosperity and economic growth, take place regularly. Most recently, the Prime Minister met with President Ramaphosa in London on 17 April, when they discussed the President’s plans to accelerate economic growth in South Africa and how the UK can provide support.

Developing Countries: Health Services

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to support governments in developing countries to build universal healthcare for children.

Alistair Burt: The UK supports countries to make progress in universal health coverage through building health systems that meet essential needs for all, including mother and children’s healthcare and prevention of diseases. DFID provides technical assistance and financial support directly to countries. For example, DFID is supporting Ethiopia’s health system by improving primary healthcare services to accelerate gains in adolescent, maternal and child health. In 2016-17, the programme contributed to over 1.3 million children receiving vaccinations against preventable childhood diseases. DFID’s investments in water, sanitation and hygiene and in nutrition also contribute to achieving universal health coverage and are essential for improving child health. DFID is also a leading donor to global health organisations such as Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, Unitaid and the World Health Organisation, and funds research and product development including for child health.

Disease Control: International Cooperation

Dr Caroline Johnson: What steps she is taking to promote global health security.

Alistair Burt: Improving global health security benefits the UK and developing countries, preventing disease outbreaks and stopping unnecessary deaths across the world. UK aid mobilises UK expertise to respond to outbreaks, invest in preventative research and preparedness, and deliver programmes to tackle key issues such as antimicrobial resistance.

Religious Freedom

Sir Edward Leigh: What steps her Department is taking to provide assistance to religious minority communities in conflict areas.

Penny Mordaunt: Our humanitarian assistance is provided on the basis of need, irrespective of race, religion or ethnicity. We ensure that aid reaches the most vulnerable including those from religious minorities. Minority communities are taken into account by the organisations we fund when assessing those most in need of protection and assistance.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Faisal Rashid: What recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Alistair Burt: Gaza’s humanitarian situation is deeply concerning, as I saw during my visit in May. Hospitals are facing drug shortages, electricity availability is 4-5 hours a day, and water is polluted. UK funding is supporting 11 hospitals by providing medicines and equipment, and helping the 2 million Gazans access clean, safe water.

Developing Countries: Charities

Mr Simon Clarke: What steps she is taking to protect aid projects following reports of sexual misconduct by Oxfam and other charity workers overseas.

Penny Mordaunt: We have introduced new safeguarding standards for all DFID programmes. I have requested and received assurances from our partners on their safeguarding policies and procedures. Internationally, we are leading the charge to raise standards. I have ensured that Oxfam’s withdrawal from bidding for funding has not impacted on beneficiaries.

Developing Countries: Plastics

Mark Pawsey: What steps her Department is taking to help developing countries reduce the use of plastic to improve the environment.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID is working with other government departments to tackle the problem of plastic pollution. DFID’s assistance focuses on helping poorer countries find practical ways to improve waste management and on identifying ways in which manufacturing processes can reduce plastic pollution.

Department for Education

Children's Commissioner for England

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what policy and legislative proposals his Department has actioned as a result of the work of the Children's Commissioner since 2014.

Nadhim Zahawi: We highly value the Children’s Commissioner’s input into the policy and legislative making process and regularly engage with the Commissioner and her office to ensure that the views and interests of children are taken into consideration. A recent example would be the creation of the Children and Social Work Act (2017), where the Commissioner promoted the views and experiences of young people during the development of the Act. The Children’s Commissioner is also a member of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Action Group that is run by the department in conjunction with the Children’s Rights Alliance for England. The department is working with this group to put in place a children’s rights training package and children’s rights impact assessment for civil servants. The department continues to work closely with the Commissioner and her office, who provide an essential contribution to the work of the department.

Chief Social Worker for Children and Families

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what policy and legislative changes his Department has actioned as a result of the work of the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families since 2013.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Chief Social Worker for Children and Families provides independent expert advice to the department on children’s social care issues and social work reform. She was a key contributor to the development of our departmental strategy, ‘Putting Children First’, which was published in 2016. She is closely involved in the implementation of this strategy, which sets out our ambitious children’s social care reform agenda.

Children: Day Care

Tom Tugendhat: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many households are eligible for 30 hour free childcare for children aged three and four in each English region; how many households have applied to the scheme since that scheme was introduced; how many of those households have been successful; and how many households have received 30 hours free childcare in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government set out in the 2015 Spending Review that we expect 390,000 children to be eligible for 30 hours’ free childcare. This figure is derived from national survey data taken in January and is an average across the year. Estimates at a regional and local authority level are not available due to the relatively small population that we are estimating within sub-national geographies.We publish monthly Management Information releases on the number of 30 hours’ eligibility codes issued and validated. These can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/30-hours-free-childcare-eligibility-codes-issued-and-validated.We also publish termly experimental statistics showing the number of children in a place. The most recent publication showed that an estimated 339,974 children were in a 30 hours place in the summer term. The full publication is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/30-hours-free-childcare-summer-term-2018.

Children: Day Care

Tom Tugendhat: To ask the Secretary of State for Education; how many households are eligible for 15 hours of free childcare for children aged three and four in each English region; how many households have applied to that scheme since that scheme was introduced; how many of those households have been successful; and how many households have received 15 hours free childcare in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nadhim Zahawi: All families who have a child of 3 and 4 years of age are eligible for 15 hours’ funded early education over no fewer than 38 weeks of the year. Since September 2010, all 3 and 4 year olds have been entitled to 570 hours a year of funded early education over no fewer than 38 weeks of the year. This equates to 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year.The number of eligible 3 and 4 year olds and the number of 3 and 4 year olds benefitting from 15 hours’ funded early education are shown in the table. Given universal eligibility, the number of households who applied and the number of households who were successful are not available. Figures dating back to 2011 can be found in the ‘Provision for children under 5 years of age in England, January 2018’ statistics publication. This was published on 28 June 2018 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/education-provision-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2018.

Children: Day Care

Tom Tugendhat: To ask the Secretary of State for Education; how many households are eligible for 15 hours of free childcare for two-year-old children in each English region; how many households have applied to that scheme since that scheme was introduced; how many of those households have been accepted; and how many households have received 15 hour free childcare two-year-old in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Tom Tugendhat: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many households are eligible for free education and childcare for two-year-old children in each English region; how many households have applied to that scheme since that scheme was introduced; how many of those households have been accepted; and how many households have received free education and childcare for two-year-old children in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nadhim Zahawi: 15 hours of free early years education for disadvantaged 2 year olds was introduced in September 2013.The number of 2 year olds eligible was extended in September 2014 to children in low-income families, children with a statement of Special Educational Needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan, children in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and children who are no longer looked after by a local authority as a result of an adoption order, a special guardianship order or a child arrangements order which specifies who the child will live with. In April 2018, the eligibility criteria for which 2 year olds can benefit from a funded early education place were changed to reflect the introduction and roll-out of Universal Credit.The number of eligible 2 year olds and the number of 2 year olds benefitting from up to 15 hours’ funded early education are shown in the table. The number of households who applied and the number of households who were successful are not available. This is because data is not collected per household, and therefore the number of households who applied and the number of households who were successful cannot be provided. Figures dating back to 2014 can be found in the ‘Provision for children under 5 years of age in England, January 2018’ statistics publication which was published on 28 June 2018. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/education-provision-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2018. Number of 2-year-old children1 eligible and number benefitting from up to 15 hoursfunded early education at January 2018, by region  Number eligible2Number benefittingEngland215,900154,960North East12,20010,270North West30,70025,480Yorkshire and The Humber25,80018,870East Midlands18,30012,210West Midlands28,10019,020East of England19,90013,980London39,30024,150South East25,80018,020South West15,60012,960Source: Early Years Census, School Census and School Level Annual School Census(1) Count of children aged 2 at 31 December in the previous calendar year.(2) Universal Credit is being rolled out throughout the country on a staged basis. Eligibility criteria for funded education for 2 year-olds includes those children whose parents are in receipt of Universal Credit in 2018, however the numbers are estimated to be small and these children are not included in the eligibility estimates. Children of Universal Credit claimants will be included in future years.Numbers of children eligible have been rounded to the nearest 100 and numbers benefitting have been rounded to the nearest 10.

Children: Speech and Language Disorders

Rebecca Pow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with (a) the Education and Skills Funding Agency and (b) Ofsted on the recommendations of the I CAN and Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ report of 20 March 2018, Bercow: Ten Years On.

Nadhim Zahawi: Officials from the Department for Education (DfE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are in regular contact and are working together to implement the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms underpinned by the Children and Families Act 2014. Effective joint working between DHSC and DfE is at the heart of these reforms, at national and local level.The recommendations of the ‘Bercow: Ten Years On’ report are very timely. They come at a time when we are considering the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism’s report ‘Autism and education in England 2017’; and considering our response to Dame Christine Lenehan’s review of residential special schools, ‘Good Intentions, Good Enough?’We shall consider all of these reports carefully and are committed to responding to Dame Christine Lenehan’s review. We will take that opportunity to set out how the government will continue working to achieve the vision of a reformed SEND system, underpinned by the Children and Families Act 2014.As part of this we are engaging with the appropriate agencies including the Education and Skills Funding Agency and Ofsted.

Foster Care

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children and young people are in foster care in each constituent part of the UK.

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of people under the age of 18 are in foster care.

Nadhim Zahawi: At 31 March 2017, there were 72,670 looked after children in England of whom 53,420 children were in foster placements.The number of children in foster placements can also be expressed as a rate per 10,000 children under 18 years of age using the mid-year population estimates provided by the Office for National Statistics. Figures at 31 March 2017 show there were 45 children per 10,000 of the population aged under 18 who were in foster placements in England.The Department for Education only holds the information for England. The devolved administrations hold the information for the other constituent countries.

Universities: Mental Health Services

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve access to mental health services at universities in (a) England and (b) Birmingham.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had and with whom on funding for mental health services at universities; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Holding answer received on 03 July 2018



Mental health is a priority for this government. This is why the Department for Health, together with the Department for Education, have published a joint green paper on Children and Young people, which sets out plans to transform specialist services and support in education settings and for families.In higher education, there is already much work underway to improve the quality of mental health services for students, alongside services provided by the NHS, including through the NHS programme Improving Access to Psychological Therapies.In addition, we are in the process of introducing a University Mental Health Charter, backed by the Government and led by the sector. This will drive up standards in promoting student and staff mental health and wellbeing.Higher education institutions (HEIs) are autonomous bodies, independent from government. HEIs are not only experts in their student population but also best placed to identify the support needs of their particular student body.Universities UK published its ‘Minding Our Futures’ guidance on 10 May 2018 which recommends: Links between NHS providers and student services to create ‘student mental health teams’ will help support students within the university provision and facilitate timely and seamless referrals for those who need specialist help.

Children: Day Care

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are eligible for 30 hours free childcare in (a) York and (b) York Outer constituency.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government set out in the 2015 Spending Review that nationally we expect 390,000 children to be eligible for 30 hours free childcare. This figure is derived from national survey data taken in January and is an average across the year. Estimates at a regional and local authority level are not available due to the relatively small population that we are estimating within sub national geographies.We publish termly experimental statistics showing the number of children in a place. The most recent publication showed that for the summer term 1,769 codes were issued in York local authority and 1,740 children were in a 30 hours place. The full publication – including a local authority level breakdown - is available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/30-hours-free-childcare-summer-term-2018.

Nurseries: Recruitment

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support (a) private, (b) voluntary and (c) independent nurseries with the recruitment and retention of high-quality practitioners.

Nadhim Zahawi: We published the Early Years Workforce Strategy in March last year, setting out how we want to work with the sector, including private voluntary and independent nurseries, to bring in new people and make sure there are clear progression and development opportunities to support retention: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy. We are working very closely with the sector on a wide range of activity to deliver the workforce strategy commitments to support recruitment and retention, including:o Improving information available to careers advisors so they can better understand career opportunities in the sector and can promote these.o Consulting on new, strengthened, level two qualification criteria, which will provide a stronger foundation for progression to level three and beyond.o Funding a new Continuous Professional Development and training hub for early years and the development of new training materials and courses for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities practice. A new £20 million fund, announced in the social mobility action plan, will also ensure early years practitioners in disadvantaged areas have access to high quality professional development support.

Children: Social Services

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) quality (b) availability and (c) funding of social care services for disabled children.

Nadhim Zahawi: The provision of services for disabled children rests with local authorities, who are best placed to assess the needs and priorities of the disabled children in their area. The 2015 Spending Review made available more than £200 billion until 2020 for councils to deliver the local services their communities want to see, including social care services for disabled children. The government is conducting a review of the relative needs and resources of local authorities that will develop a robust, up-to-date approach to distributing funding across all local authorities in England at Local Government Finance Settlements, including for children’s services. To inform the review, the Department for Education and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government have jointly-commissioned a data research and collection project on cost and demand pressures for children’s services, to understand local authorities’ relative funding needs. We are working towards implementation in 2020/21, while keeping this date under review as our work progresses.

Ministry of Justice

Sexual Offences: Internet

Mrs Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2018 to Question 155217, if he will place details of the consultation with victims referred to in the Library.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Amey

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2018 to Question 152831 on Amey, what financial deductions have been applied to Amey as a result of contractual performance indicators falling below the minimum acceptable level.

Rory Stewart: The financial deductions that have been levied against Amey between the start of the contract, June 2015 to May 2018 total £2,620,956. This amount is a direct result of contractual performance indicators falling below the minimum acceptable level. We will not hesitate to impose tough financial remedies where standards fall short. We continue to closely monitor the performance of all public prisons, and will take further action if and when required.

Prisoners: Voting Rights

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent changes the Government has made to prisoners’ voting rights; and what guidance has been issued on that subject to (a) prison governors and (b) prisoners in England and Wales.

Rory Stewart: In November, the Government set out to Parliament the administrative changes it proposed to make to address the 2005 Hirst judgment on prisoner voting rights, while maintaining the general bar on convicted prisoners in custody from voting. These changes addressed an anomaly in the previous guidance where offenders released back into the community on licence using an electronic tag under the Home Detention Curfew scheme could vote, but those who were in the community following Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) could not. Under the new guidance, those on ROTL will no longer be barred from voting.  Guidance was recently issued to prison governors in England and Wales to inform them of this policy change. This was accompanied by a leaflet for prisoners informing them of their voting rights.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2018 to Question 149941 on Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance, by what date he plans to write to the hon. Member for Delyn with that information and place a copy of the letter in the Library.

Rory Stewart: I have written to the Rt Hon Member and placed a copy of the letter in the Library.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many outstanding maintenance requests there are for each prison.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many outstanding maintenance requests there are throughout the prison estate.

Rory Stewart: I refer the hon Member to the reply I gave to the Rt Hon Member for Delyn on 4 July 2018 (PQ157660).

Sentencing: Females

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women were sentenced to prison in 2017.

Edward Argar: The number of women sentenced to prison in 2017 can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/707662/sentencing-2017-tool.xlsx Please filter by ‘Sex’ and select ’02: Female’ and filter by ‘Sentence Outcome’ and select ’01 Immediate Custody’. On 27 June we published our strategy for female offenders, which sets out our vision and plan to improve outcomes for women in the community and custody. This strategy sets out the Government’s commitment to a new programme of work for female offenders, driven by our vision to see:fewer women coming into the criminal justice systemfewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, and a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; andbetter conditions for those in custody.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to prevent delays to personal independence hearings.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to prevent delays to employment and support allowance hearings.

Lucy Frazer: In order to respond to a general increase in appeal receipts, HM Courts & Tribunals Service has been working with the tribunal’s judiciary both to appoint additional judges and panel members, and take forward initiatives with the potential to increase the capacity and performance of the tribunal. We have recruited extra fee-paid judicial office holders: 250 judges across the First-tier Tribunal, 125 disability-qualified members, and up to 230 medical members. We are also developing a new digital system which enables speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. In addition, we are reviewing current listing practices to increase the number of cases listed on a tribunal session, and introducing case-management “triage” sessions, with the aim of reducing the time taken for appeals to reach final determination. All these measures will increase the capacity of the tribunal, with the aim of reducing waiting times for appellants. I have met with my counterpart at the Department of Work and Pensions to discuss how our two departments can work together to improve initial decision making and the time it takes for cases to go through the tribunal. Officials from both departments are looking at feedback from the tribunal and at ways in which digitisation might make the system easier to use. Latest figures indicate that since Personal Independent Payment was introduced, more than 3.1 million decisions have been made, and of these under 9% have been appealed, and 4% have been overturned. For Employment Support Allowance, 8% of all decisions made were appealed, and 4% overturned at tribunals.

Knives: Sentencing

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how long the average custodial sentence is for people found illegally carrying a knife.

Rory Stewart: The average custodial sentence length for possession of an article with a blade or point can be found in table 3 of the document “Knife and offensive weapon sentencing quarterly: January to March 2018, main tables” at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/knife-and-offensive-weapon-sentencing-january-to-march-2018

Civil Proceedings: Legal Aid Scheme

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 151043, whether his Department collects data on the types of civil cases which receive early legal advice; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: A more detailed breakdown of this information, including a breakdown by case according to the applicable category of law, can be found in the National Statistics on Legal aid in England and Wales. These are published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis and are available via https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/legal-aid-statistics.

Police: Personation

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were convicted of an offence of impersonating a police officer while riding a motorcycle in 2017.

Lucy Frazer: It is not possible to identify from centrally held data the number of defendants convicted of an offence of impersonating a police officer while riding a motorcycle as there is no specific offence code for this offence and is therefore not identifiable specifically within court data reported centrally to the MoJ. However, the number of defendants convicted for the broader offence of impersonating a police officer can be found in the link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/707811/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2017.xlsxSearch ‘offence’ for ‘195 Police Act 1996 S.90 - Impersonation of member of police force or special constable’.

Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to bring into effect (a) the provisions in the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017 to enable the families of missing persons to look after the financial and legal affairs of their relatives and (b) all other provisions of that Act which have yet to be commenced.

Edward Argar: The Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act received Royal Assent in April 2017. The Government remains committed to bringing the Act into force as soon as possible. This depends upon the creation of the necessary secondary legislation and administrative systems in the courts and the Office of the Public Guardian to define and support the working of the new procedure. Due to the demands of work on pressing government priorities, the officials responsible for the necessary legislation have not been able to complete preparation of the draft legislation as quickly as they had hoped. As the work is at a relatively early stage, the Government is not currently able to confirm a date for commencement, but intends to set out its approach to commencement by the Summer Recess.

Feltham Young Offender Institution

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of hours per week was of (a) taught education and (b) vocational training provided to children held in the segregation block at HM Feltham Young Offenders Institution in 2018.

Edward Argar: Outreach education is commissioned for those young people who are unable or unwilling to attend the classroom. This applies to the whole establishment. As per my answer to PQ156475 and PQ157476, this information is not collected centrally in respect to children held in the care and separation unit at HM YOI Feltham and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Good education in and out of the classroom is the key to unlocking a secure and stable future for young people. I am determined to drive forward our reforms so that young people are equipped with the skills to live successful, crime-free lives.

Doncaster Young Offender Institution

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many young adults in HMYOI Doncaster have accumulated in total (a) 1-24 (b) 25-49 (c) 50-74 (d) 75-99 (e) 100-149 and (f) 150 or more additional days of imprisonment imposed as punishment since their arrival.

Rory Stewart: Discipline procedures are central to the maintenance of a safe, decent and rehabilitative custodial environment. They require adjudications to be conducted lawfully, fairly and justly. Only Independent Adjudicators, who are District Judges or Deputy District Judges, can, in cases deemed to be sufficiently serious, make an award of additional days. All prisoners have a full opportunity to hear what is alleged against them and to present their case. Young or vulnerable prisoners, who may lack experience of adjudications, are encouraged to request help from an advocate. The most serious offences are referred to the police. The table below provides statistics on the number of young adult prisoners awarded additional days at HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Doncaster following proven adjudications between 2013 and 2017: Table 1: Number of unique offenders in HMYOI Doncaster by number of accumulated Additional Days Awarded following proven adjudications, 2013 to 2017(1)Number of accumulated days awarded Number of offendersAge group:18-20a 1-24 49b 25-49 33c 50-74 9d 75-99 3e 100-149 1f 150+ 1 (1) Note that HMP and YOI Doncaster is currently holding remand and sentenced young offenders and adult male prisoners. Therefore the table provides the number of prisoners aged between 18 and 20 and excludes all those aged above.Data sources and qualityThe figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Offenders: Females

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total spend from the public purse on female offenders has been in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: HMPPS routinely publishes average costs per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales, including all categories of the female estate. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year. Information on prison expenditure for previous financial years can be accessed in the Prison and Probation Performance Statistics pages for each financial year on the www.gov.uk website. Prison unit costs can be found within the Excel document Costs per prison place and cost per prisoner by individual prison establishment in the ‘Cost by Establishment’ tab. The most recent published figures for financial year 2016-17 can be accessed on the www.gov.uk website from the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistic s/prison-performance-statistics-2016-to-2017 We are committed to addressing the issues around female offending so we can better protect the public and deliver more effective rehabilitation. Our female offender strategy, published on 27 June, sets out the Government’s commitment to a new programme of work for female offenders, driven by our vision to see:Fewer women coming into the criminal justice system,Fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, and a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; andBetter conditions for those in custody.The strategy also gives a commitment to work with local and national partners to assess the options for delivering a pilot for ‘residential women’s centres’ in at least five sites across England and Wales. We are not proceeding with plans to build five Community Prisons for Women.

Exeter Prison

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much additional funding his Department has allocated to enact its response to the urgent notification protocol which was issued for HMP Exeter.

Rory Stewart: The Secretary of State published his response to the Her Majesty’s Chief Inspectorate of Prisons Urgent Notification (UN) on the 27 June. The letter and action plan can be found on the gov.uk website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/urgent-notification-for-hmp-exeter A separate resource budget to help support prisons that receive an Urgent Notification (UN) does not exist and additional funding is drawn from a range of business as usual budgets.

Deerbolt Young Offender Institution

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of safety levels at HMYOI Deerbolt.

Rory Stewart: We keep levels of safety at all prison establishments under constant review, using data for assaults, self-harm incidents and self-inflicted deaths, HMIP inspection reports and the outputs of internal assurance reviews of safety, supplemented by ongoing operational intelligence. Published statistics for a range of measures of safety, including data for individual prisons, can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-december-2017. The levels of violence, suicide and self-harm in our prisons are far too high and we are taking urgent action to address these problems. Assaults on our hardworking staff will never be tolerated. We are ensuring that prison officers have the tools they need to do the job, rolling out body-worn cameras, police-style handcuffs and restraints, and trialling PAVA incapacitant spray. Our recruitment drive is vital to ensuring prisons are safe, secure and decent so they can successfully rehabilitate offenders, and 90 per cent of our additional 3,111 prison officers are due to be in post by the summer.

Magistrates' Courts: Wrexham

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timetable is for the start of building work to construct new custody provision at Wrexham Magistrates Court.

Lucy Frazer: We do not currently have a date for the building work to start.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Wales

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will itemise and publish a list of meetings between hon. Members in Wales and officials from HM Court Service in Wales in the last 12 months.

Lucy Frazer: There have not been any meetings with honourable Members in Wales and officials from HM Courts & Tribunals Service in Wales in the last twelve months.

Courts: Wales

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps HM Courts and Tribunals Service in Wales is taking to consult (a) service users and (b) the public in north Wales on the provision of court services.

Lucy Frazer: HMCTS in Wales will consult service users and the public should any proposals be made to permanently alter the provision of court services in north Wales.

Treasury

Tobacco: Delivery Services

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to prepare to adopt track and trace guidelines for tobacco products in March 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: HMRC is in the process of procuring an external supplier to develop and operate the track and trace system to be introduced for cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco from May 2019 under the EU Tobacco Products Directive. HMRC is also assessing the marketplace for potential solutions to satisfy the UK’s obligation to prescribe the components of security features on tobacco products. Until the UK leaves the EU, we remain committed to the rights and obligations of a Member State, including requirements of all Directives. Track and trace is also required under the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Illicit Trade Protocol.

Halifax Bank of Scotland: Fraud

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the publication of the Turnbull Report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business, whether he has invited any regulatory body to bring charges against the parties named in that report.

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the publication of the Turnbull Report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business, whether he has referred the Turnbull report to the Serious Fraud Office.

John Glen: This is a matter for the operationally independent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This report was provided to the FCA and the police at the time, in 2014. The FCA is currently investigating the extent and nature of the knowledge of the discovery of misconduct within HBOS Impaired Assets office in Reading and HBOS’ communications with the regulator after the initial discovery of the misconduct.

Taxation: Self-assessment

Royston Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many self-employed people have missed payment deadlines since HMRC stopped sending bills.

Mel Stride: HMRC has not stopped sending bills to self-employed customers.

Corporation Tax

Royston Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses have missed the payment deadline since HMRC stopped sending corporation tax bills.

Mel Stride: Information in the form requested is not readily available and could only be obtained, compiled and collated at disproportionate cost.

Corporation Tax

Royston Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has HMRC collected in fines for late payments of corporation tax in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14, (e) 2014-15, (f) 2015-16 and (g) 2016-17.

Mel Stride: Information in the form requested is not readily available and could only be obtained, compiled and collated at disproportionate cost.

Visa

Clive Lewis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the (a) economy, (b) consumers and (c) small and medium-sized enterprises of the Visa outage on 1 June 2018.

John Glen: We take the operational resilience of the finance sector and any detrimental impacts very seriously. HM Treasury works closely with the Bank of England, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (collectively the ‘Financial Authorities’) – as well as other organisations where relevant such as the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) - to improve the resilience of the sector and to respond to any major disruption. As part of this work the Financial Authorities routinely assess the impact of any major operational disruption and as noted in the record of the Financial Policy Committee meeting on 19 June 2018, this incident will inform further work by the regulators. You may find it helpful to note that the Chief Executive of Visa Europe set out the impact of the service disruption in a letter to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee. This is available at: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/treasury/Correspondence/2017-19/visa-response-150618.pdf

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Social Rented Housing: South West

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support the building of new social housing in the South West.

Dominic Raab: There are a number of innovative social housing projects in the South West, with social housing providers actively working with SMEs, leveraging small sites to increase delivery and offering custom build affordable housing.The Government is continuing to support the delivery of social housing in the South West and across the country. We are providing over £9 billion funding for the Affordable Homes Programme, this includes an additional £2 billion available for social rent.We have confirmed long-term rent certainty for social landlords in England and announced that we will be providing councils with £1 billion of additional borrowing to deliver homes where demand is greatest. In March we announced plans to consult on options for allowing local authorities more flexibility in the use of their Right to Buy receipts.These measures will support housing associations and local authorities to build more genuinely affordable homes where they are needed most, including areas of high affordability pressure such as the South West.Since 2010, we have delivered over 378,000 new affordable homes including over 273,000 affordable homes for rent. The Department does not publish delivery information on a regional basis.The Nelson Project in Plymouth, for example, is a custom build partnership which supported returning veterans by training them to build their own homes. 24 affordable apartments were delivered, housing twelve veterans, six persons from the housing waiting list, and six people with mild learning disabilities. The returning veterans gained skills, qualifications and experience of the construction industry, making them more employable and helping them to assimilate into normal civilian life. The Government supported this project with £880,000 of funding.Another innovative approach that received government funding is a development of low energy affordable homes in Somerset. Built in partnership between Southwestern Housing Society and Man Green Homes, the homes are extremely energy efficient and help to future proof again fuel poverty.

Social Rented Housing

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish regulations on local Tenancy Strategies in relation to the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

Dominic Raab: Holding answer received on 25 June 2018



The Housing and Planning Act 2016 introduced changes to local authority tenancies by making it mandatory for most new council tenancies to be for a fixed term.Regulations and statutory guidance are necessary to implement the fixed term tenancy provisions in the Housing and Planning Act and the next steps will be set out in due course.

Nature Conservation

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to protect local wildlife sites through the National Planning Policy Framework; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab: This Government is committed to the strengthened environmental protections proposed in the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), and making these clear. The revised Framework we consulted on proposed a number of measures, including by requiring local authorities to improve biodiversity and air quality, and delivering our manifesto commitment to increase the protection for ancient woodland. We engaged relevant stakeholders during the consultation, which closed on 10 May 2018, and we are currently considering responses. The revised NPPF and the Government’s response will be published this summer.

Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to collect and publish data from house builders on build-out rates.

James Brokenshire: The Housing White Paper proposed a range of measures to improve transparency of data around housing delivery. These measures were well supported by respondents to the consultation, and strongly supported by my Rt Hon Friend Sir Oliver Letwin who also raised concern at the paucity of publicly available data as part of his independent review of build out. We will continue to explore opportunities to increase transparency around housing delivery.

Right to Buy Scheme: Housing Associations

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to extend the right to buy scheme to tenants of housing association properties.

Dominic Raab: We remain committed to ensuring that housing association tenants have the opportunity to own their homes, and are using pilots to make sure we get the policy right. The forthcoming large-scale regional pilot in the Midlands, which will launch in the summer, will test key aspects of the voluntary agreement with housing associations not tested in the initial small-scale pilot, including the portable discount and one for one replacement.

Affordable Housing: Rural Areas

Sir Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to encourage councils to bring forward Rural Exception Sites.

Dominic Raab: The rural exception sites policy has been revised in the draft National Planning Policy Framework to make it clear that local authorities should support opportunities to bring forward sites that will provide affordable housing to meet identified local needs.We intend to publish the final version of the revised Framework this summer.

Affordable Housing: Construction

Sir Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what safeguards on (a) quality and (b) design are planned to be placed on houses built on the proposed Entry Level Exception Sites.

Dominic Raab: The Government believes that good design is fundamental to creating attractive, safe and healthy places, where people genuinely want to live.The draft revised National Planning Policy Framework sets out a range of policies to improve the quality and design of new housing stock which applies across all tenures and sites.

Housing: Construction

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether a local authority should consider its housing need when assessing a proposed Neighbourhood Plan and its proposals to build new local homes; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab: Government wants to ensure that plans start from an honest assessment of need for new homes, the draft revised National Planning Policy Framework proposes that local authorities provide designated neighbourhood planning areas with a housing requirement figure.Our guidance is also clear that local planning authorities should provide constructive comments on an emerging neighbourhood plan before it is submitted for examination. Following examination a Local Planning Authority is required to decide whether a plan meets the basic conditions, which include whether the making of the neighbourhood plan is in general conformity with the strategic policies contained in the development plan for the area.

Homelessness: Temporary Accommodation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether new statistics to be published from December 2018 on (a) statutory homelessness, (b) homelessness prevention and relief and (c) temporary accommodation will be directly comparable with previous statistics published by his Department.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 02 July 2018



The homelessness statistics published in December 2018 will be the first set of statistics published since we overhauled the statutory homelessness data collection to give us better insights into the causes of homelessness and the support people need. Under this new system, headline figures showing the number of homeless acceptances will be broadly comparable and the number of households in temporary accommodation will be comparable with previous statistics published by the Department.The Homelessness Reduction Act which commenced on 3 April brought in a new duty to help prevent anyone at risk of homelessness within 56 days and a new statutory duty to relieve homelessness for those who are already homeless. As a result of these changes, homelessness prevention and relief statistics will not be directly comparable with previous statistics published by the Department.

Parks Action Group

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made in setting up the cross-departmental group on parks.

Rishi Sunak: In September 2017, the then Parks Minister Marcus Jones MP announced the creation of the ‘Parks Action Group’ as part of his response to the Select Committee Inquiry. This group now informs the work of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and our partners across Government. The group is made up of officials from across Government, key bodies from the parks, leisure and heritage sectors and the Local Government Association.

Ministry of Defence

United Kingdom Security Vetting

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer 25 June 2018 to Question 155681 on United Kingdom Security Vetting, how many of the five applications were refused.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: None. Any information was disclosed lawfully in accordance with data protection legislation, balancing the necessity for the release with the protection of the individual's rights.

Nuclear Weapons: Safety

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of positions for (a) civilian and (b) military nuclear suitably qualified and experienced personnel within the (a) Defence Nuclear Programme and (b) Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator are currently filled.

Guto Bebb: The requested information is not held centrally and will take time to collate and verify. I will write to the hon. Member in due course.

Armed Conflict: Casualties

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to implement the recommendations of Sir John Chilcot's Report of the Iraq Inquiry, published on 6 July 2016, on future (a) recording and (b) reporting of civilian casualties caused by UK military action; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on the implementation of recommendation 277 of Sir John Chilcot's Report of the Iraq Inquiry, published on 6 July 2016, on establishing a practical method for identifying civilian casualties caused by UK military action.

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on the implementation of recommendation 280 of Sir John Chilcot's Report of the Iraq Inquiry, published on 6 July 2016, on his Department making arrangements to co-operate with NGOs and other specialists to compile estimates of civilian casualties caused by UK military action (a) in real time and (b) retrospectively.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes very seriously the conclusions set out at paragraphs 277 ("The Inquiry considers that a Government has a responsibility to make every reasonable effort to identify and understand the likely and actual effects of its military actions on civilians") and 280 ("The Government should be ready to work with others, in particular Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and academic institutions, to develop such assessments and estimates over time") of Section 17 of the Iraq Inquiry (Chilcot) Report. Since the publication of the Report, officials have been in discussion with several NGOs concerning these conclusions. In response to this dialogue, the Department now releases statistics relating to the number of civilians admitted to UK military field hospitals. In addition, the MOD publication 'The Good Operation' (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-good-operation), a handbook for those involved in operational policy and its implementation published in January 2018, highlights paragraph 277 of Section 17 (on page 8); invites policy-makers to assess the likely impact of an operation on the populace, including factors such as protection of non-combatants (page 23); and draws attention to the legal dimension of operational planning, including targeting and rules of engagement, on pages 33-35. These considerations are a central part of our planning and campaign assessment processes. We are keen to continue the dialogue with NGOs over the coming period to ensure that, as far as practicably possible, we continue to address the conclusions set out in paragraphs 277 and 280 of Section 17. The current official statistics on operational casualties are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-and-uk-civilian-operational-casualty-and-fatality-statistics The operations on which we are currently reporting (KIPION, SHADER and TORAL) do not incorporate a deployed field hospital, hence no civilian casualty data are currently being reported regarding admissions to deployed UK military medical facilities. We intend to start reporting on numbers of casualties for Op TRENTON (South Sudan) as a UK field hospital is deployed, subject to further work on data compliance issues. We have previously published civilian numbers being treated in a UK field hospital as part of reporting for Op GRITROCK in Sierra Leone, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-and-uk-civilian-operational-casualty-and-fatality-statistics-financial-year-20142015 It is also important to stress that we do everything we can to minimise the risk to civilians from UK military action, not least through the professionalism of our personnel. Reports of civilian casualties are taken very seriously and will continue to be. We already have in place a process by which we identify any evidence that a civilian casualty may inadvertently have occurred. Any such evidence is assessed and if it is credible, it is passed to the relevant authorities for investigation. The results are published where any investigation shows that the UK has been responsible.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's timetable is for the publication of a report on the implementation of the recommendations of Sir John Chilcot's Report of the Iraq Inquiry, published on 6 July 2016; and whether progress on that implementation is planned to be announced (a) in instalments or (b) simultaneously for all the recommendations of that report.

Mark Lancaster: The Government responded on 19 December 2017 to a 16 March 2017 Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee report (HC656) on Lessons still to be learned from the Chilcot Inquiry. This included an annex by the National Security Advisor which summarised the lesson learning process undertaken across the National Security Community in response to the Iraq Inquiry. The Ministry of Defence has no plans to publish any further progress reports, though considerable progress has been achieved in responding to the findings of the Iraq Inquiry Report. This includes introduction across the Department of a 'Guide to Reasonable Challenge' to ensure that decision-making is as well informed as possible; training and education on challenge, including at the Defence Academy; publication of a handbook for those involved in operational policy and its implementation ('The Good Operation', available athttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-good-operation);a programme of increased professionalisation for those working in the policy profession; and work to improve the capture and curation of (and access to) knowledge. On 5 July 2018, the MOD is hosting a conference entitled Chilcot Two Years On which will take stock of progress in responding to the Report.

Ministry of Defence: Disability

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people employed by his Department have a declared disability.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: As at April 2018, 2,560 civilians employed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) had declared a disability.Further information on diversity within the Department, including the number of civilians who have a declared disability, can be found in the MOD Diversity Dashboard 2018 publication, on the Gov.UK website at the link below:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-diversity-dashboard-index

Ministry of Defence: Recruitment

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to recruit to the (a) the armed forces and (b) his Department more (i) BAME people, (ii) LGBT people, (iii) people with disabilities and (iv) people from non-Christian religious groups.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Over recent years, Defence has increasingly challenged itself to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation. This is not just the right thing do from a moral perspective, there is a business imperative for taking radical action - a diverse and inclusive organisation is a stronger, healthier and more resilient organisation. Defence is dedicated to achieving a more diverse workforce and is undertaking a wide range of activities to increase the diversity of our people. These include:Community Engagement - Increased and more targeted engagement with communities. Specialist and youth engagement teams have been set up in each of the Services. Using staff networks and diversity champions to support our diverse range of personnel and outreach into the community - The appointment of an Islamic Religious Adviser to the Chief of the Defence Staff, to help improve mutual understanding between Muslim communities and the Armed Forces. Recruitment Process - existing recruitment processes are being examined to remove any unconscious bias and to improve support and mentoring for candidates. For civilian staff, Ministry of Defence has been a Disability Confident leader since 2017. Marketing - increase in targeted marketing activities. Membership of - Business Disability Forum, Business in the Community (for both Gender and Race), Stonewall. This enables benchmarking of Defence’s performance against other public sector organisations and the private sector.

Armed Forces: LGBT People

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has issued guidance on support for (a) LGBT and (b) transgender armed forces personnel.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: All three Services provide guidance on LGBT matters through their web portals, directing personnel to the LGBT champions and active LGBT networks.Since the lifting of the ban on LGBT personnel serving in the military in the year 2000, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has welcomed and supported all staff, irrespective of sexual orientation, actively celebrating and supporting the diversity of all our personnel. Service personnel who have indicated a wish to change their gender are given the necessary support during and after transition. Transgender policy/guidance is in place to enable this. Other support is also available including through LGBT champions, both military and civilian, senior LGBT role models, active LGBT networks and over 150 personnel trained by Stonewall as LGBT allies. The single Services and MOD civilians took part in the 2018 Stonewall Workplace Equality Index and all were ranked, with both the Royal Navy and Army being placed in the Top 100 Employers. In March 2018, for the second year running, MOD flew the transgender flag to mark Transgender Day of Visibility. MOD will once again be flying the rainbow flag from the top of our Main Building, as LGBT Service personnel march alongside their civilian colleagues at London Pride 2018.

Armed Forces: Cadets

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2018 to Question 146046, for what reasons no funds have been yet made available for Stonewall’s train-the-trainers courses and (b) other LGBT diversity training.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The individual Cadet Forces are responsible for ensuring that all their adult volunteers are trained properly for their specific roles. To achieve this, they identify training needs and then decide on the most suitable delivery mechanisms, which could include using outside agencies if appropriate.As explained in my answer to Question 146046, Gender Identity guidance has been produced for all Ministry of Defence Cadet Forces.

Armed Forces: Equality

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to make diversity training mandatory for all armed forces personnel; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Diversity training is mandatory for every member of staff across Defence, including for Service personnel.

Invictus Games: Netherlands

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to fund its share of the 2020 Invictus Games in the Hague.

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to contribute financially to the domestic sporting event being delivered by Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion for Veterans in 2019.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has no plans to provide funding for the 2019 military adaptive sporting event for Service personnel and veterans or the 2020 Invictus Games. Both events will be delivered by a three-way partnership between the Royal British Legion, Help for Heroes and the MOD. The partners recognise the impact on Invictus of the cessation of LIBOR money and have decided, therefore, to increase efforts to generate improved levels of sponsorship and donations. To facilitate this effort, the MOD has recently appointed a senior (one star) military officer to support the Partnership Board. This is in addition to the manpower which MOD already provides in support of the partnership.

Tornado Aircraft: Accidents

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 19th June 2018 to Question 152201 on Tornado Aircraft Accidents, on what date Tornado parachute training was adjusted to cover GQ 5000 operations in response to the recommendation made in para 5.3.3 of QINETIQ/AT&E/CR00782/1; and whether the crew of Tornado aircraft (a) ZD812 (ABBOT 2) and (b) ZD743 (ASTON 1) had undergone that training at the time of the Moray Firth accident.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: There was no requirement for changes to Tornado parachute training after the introduction of the GQ 5000 parachute in 2010 as it had no effect on the drills completed by the individual upon ejection. The aircrew involved in the Moray Firth accident were up to date with their parachute training at the time of the accident.

Tornado Aircraft: Accidents

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place into the Library, information on the (a) barometric altitude, (b) radio altitude, (c) bank angle, (d) bank rate, (e) speed, (f) pitch angle and (g) cabin pressure data from the aircraft data recorder (R-ADR) of Tornado ZD812 on the 3 July 2012, from 10 seconds before the collision to 30 seconds after, at the normal sample rate.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I can confirm that the Ministry of Defence holds some of the requested information from the aircraft data recorder (R-ADR). The R-ADR only has recorded data for six seconds after the collision. This information is currently being compiled into a presentable format and I will write to the hon. Member in due course.

Army: Recruitment

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2018 to Question 152251 on Army: Recruitment, what the timescale is for that letter to be sent and a copy placed in the Library.

Mark Lancaster: I responded to hon. Member on 3 July 2018.

Defence

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the UK defence and military aerospace industry of the UK leaving the EU.

Guto Bebb: The Ministry of Defence is working closely with defence industry and other Government Departments to understand the implications and opportunities presented by the UK's departure from the European Union.The European defence sector is already closely integrated; leading companies have a presence right across Europe, and across the UK. It is worth noting that current major European collaborative capability projects, such as the Typhoon programme, are managed bilaterally or with groups of partners, rather than through the EU.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that adequate support is provided to people who develop disabilities to help them return to work.

Sarah Newton: As set out last year in the Improving Lives: the future of work, health and disability paper, we are committed to help those with health conditions and disabilities move nearer to the labour market and, when ready, into work by building more personalised tailored employment and health support.For example, we are:Investing in a wide range of employment support measures, such as the Work and Health Programme, to ensure support is available for a large, diverse group;Expanding the support available through existing initiatives like Access to Work, which now has a dedicated ‘Tech Fund’ to incentivise employers and customers to consider assistive technology support that is more flexible and more economic than other potential solutions;Continuing to build the capability of work coaches and strengthen our engagement with claimants;Working with employers through Disability Confident to create an inclusive environment and enable them to offer more job opportunities to these groups, and;Continuing to build our evidence base to understand what works.

Personal Independence Payment: Armed Forces

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of personal independence payment appellants have served in the armed forces.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.Service personnel and veterans who are entitled to a Guaranteed Income Payment of 50% or higher through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme are eligible for Armed Forces Independence Payments (AFIP). This is an alternative payment to PIP. The numbers currently receiving AFIP are in the link below at page 12:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/719200/20180625_-_AFCS_Nat_Stat_-_Bulletin.pdf

Employment and Support Allowance: Armed Forces

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants of employment and support allowance have served in the armed forces.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The Department only collects data which determines benefit entitlement or which contributes to the good management of a claim.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken is for an appeal to be brought against a personal independence payment decision in (a) the UK, (b) Wales and (c) the Arfon constituency.

Sarah Newton: The Ministry of Justice publish UK wide information on appeals clearance time (from appeal lodgement to appeal being cleared) published in the quarterly bulletin “Tribunals and gender recognitions certificates statistics quarterly: January to March 2018”. The relevant information can be found in table T3 of the Main Tables document. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognitions-certificates-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2018 The average time to clear an appeal against a Personal Independence Payment decision is 25 weeks. (Latest data Jan – Mar 2018) The information requested for the average length of time for an appeal to be heard for (b) Wales and (c) the Arfon constituency could only be provided at a disproportionate cost. MoJ provides a CSV file which contains information on clearance times broken down by tribunal venue. The CSV file can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/716015/tribunals-q4-2017-2018-csvs.zip

Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken is for an appeal to be brought against an employment and support allowance decision in (a) the UK, (b) Wales and (c) the Arfon constituency.

Sarah Newton: The Ministry of Justice publish UK wide information on appeals clearance time (from appeal lodgement to appeal being cleared) published in the quarterly bulletin “Tribunals and gender recognitions certificates statistics quarterly: January to March 2018”. The relevant information can be found in table T3 of the Main Tables document. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognitions-certificates-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2018 The average time to clear an appeal against an Employment Support Allowance decision is 23 weeks. (Latest data Jan – Mar 2018) The information requested for the average length of time for an appeal to be heard for (b) Wales and (c) the Arfon constituency could only be provided at a disproportionate cost. MoJ provides a CSV file which contains information on clearance times broken down by tribunal venue. The CSV file can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/716015/tribunals-q4-2017-2018-csvs.zip

National Insurance Credits

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken since 2011 to publicise eligibility for Specified Adult Childcare Credits to (a) grandparents and (b) other family members that care for a child under 12 years old while the (i) parent or (ii) main carer is working.

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to publicise eligibility for Specified Adult Childcare Credits to (a) grandparents and (b) other family members who care for a child under 12 when the (a) parent or (b) main carer is at work.

Guy Opperman: Since Specified Adult Childcare credits were introduced by the Coalition Government on 6 April 2011, HMRC management information shows more than 19,000 people providing childcare to a related child have benefitted from a transferred child benefit credit. A communications campaign to raise awareness began when the credits were introduced. The Department also provided information to stakeholder organisations to encourage wider awareness raising. Gov.uk contains full details of Specified Adult Childcare credits and how to apply for them. This information is signposted to individuals when they request a State Pension forecast at the Check your State Pension service, https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension. Since February 2016 over 9 million visits have been made to this service. These credits can be backdated until 6 April 2011 and the Government encourages everyone who is eligible to apply.

Personal Independence Payment: Autism and Dyspraxia

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with autism or dyspraxia who were receiving disability living allowance are (a) receiving personal independence payments and (b) no longer receiving any form of replacement benefit.

Sarah Newton: The number of people who are in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and who previously received Disability Living Allowance (DLA) can be found in Stat-Xplore under the PIP claims in payment table: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. These statistics provide a breakdown by disabling condition and reassessment indicator of the number of PIP claims in payment each month since PIP was introduced in April 2013. It should be noted that the PIP claims in payment table gives the number of people in receipt of PIP at the end of the chosen month. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. Please note data on Stat-Xplore is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in the PIP claims in payment statistics. The status of claims as 'new claim/reassessment' is the most recent known status for each claim. It is not possible to calculate how many DLA to PIP reassessment claimants with particular conditions are no longer receiving PIP or a replacement benefit because lower level disabling conditions are recorded differently on the PIP and DLA computer systems. Replacement benefits could also include PIP and Attendance Allowance for those who are eligible.

Social Security Benefits: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate the Government has made of the number of families in Coventry directly affected by the two-child limit policy in the child element of (a) child tax credits and (b) universal credit since April 2017.

Alok Sharma: The information requested could only be made available at disproportionate cost. National data regarding the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-tax-credit-and-universal-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2018

Universal Credit: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has estimated the additional costs incurred by (a) Coventry City Council and (b) advice agencies in Coventry as a result of the roll-out of universal credit; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: We work closely with local authorities to support them through the delivery of Universal Credit, and this includes providing additional funding to cover any costs where they can be evidenced and verified. For 2018/19 we have provided Coventry Council with £28,818, an increase of 6.6% on their 2017/18 funding.We do not hold data on additional costs for other agencies. However, we are working closely with many advice agencies and we continue to listen and respond to their concerns and implement changes through the design and development of Universal Credit. We also provide funding through local authorities to deliver Universal Support services to help claimants with the transition to Universal Credit.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Food: Trade

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on the food trade in the UK of the a suspension of food safety border controls in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Department of Health and Social Care on the potential suspension of food safety border controls in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

George Eustice: The UK has world leading standards of food safety and quality, backed by a rigorous legislative framework; we will maintain these high standards once the UK leaves the European Union.   The Government remains committed to delivering informative food labelling and promoting robust food standards nationally and internationally, to protect consumer interests, facilitate international trade, and ensure that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy. Defra are working closely with the Food Standards Agency and Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that the regulatory regime for food safety remains robust as the UK leaves the European Union.

Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reintroduce the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme.

George Eustice: The Government is considering the latest data and working closely with industry to understand labour demand and supply, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements. Under the implementation period agreement, employers in the agricultural and food processing sectors can continue to recruit EU citizens until the end of 2020. In June 2018 we announced further details about how EU citizens and their families can obtain settled status in the UK. The Government keeps its position on seasonal workers under close review.

Berries and Soft Fruit: Seasonal Workers

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations he has received from the British soft fruit industry on vacancies in seasonal labour.

George Eustice: Defra engages regularly with key bodies in the agriculture and horticulture sector to explore seasonal labour. In September, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister met representatives from industry at Defra’s Seasonal Workforce Working Group to discuss the best practice for attracting and retaining workers and this included representatives from the soft fruit industry.   We are also directly engaging with industry through 2018 agricultural shows. Most recently the Secretary of State attended the Royal Highland Show. He spoke about various issues, including the labour needs of both skilled and unskilled workers across the UK.

Home Office

Immigration: Caribbean

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date the proposal to destroy the Windrush landing cards was first presented to a Minister in her Department.

Caroline Nokes: No decision was taken to destroy ‘Windrush migrant’ information specifically and records were not categorised as being related to a ‘Windrush migrant’ or the ‘Windrush generation’. Any Windrush papers would have been destroyed in line with the retention and disposal periods set for the wider records collections in which they were located.

Immigrants: Caribbean

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff have been allocated to the Windrush generation task group; and how many countries will be covered by the work of that taskforce.

Caroline Nokes: Pursuant to the reply to Question 137147 given to the hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark on 26 June, the Taskforce consists of approximately 150 staff.The Windrush Scheme, launched on 30-May, is not limited to the Windrush generation or those from Commonwealth countries. The Scheme also allows for some people who are nationals of countries other than the Commonwealth, settled in the UK prior to 31 December 1988, to make an application free of charge for a document that confirms their lawful status.

Immigrants: Caribbean

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will require national insurance numbers to be provided as evidence by applicants for free citizenship under the arrangements for the Windrush generation.

Caroline Nokes: All cases will be treated on a case by case basis based on any evidence the applicant can provide and assessed on the balance of probability.The Home Office will accept all sorts of documentation, including National Insurance numbers, to help build a picture of the applicant’s life in the UK.Where applicants cannot provide evidence of their residence in the UK, the Home Office will work with them and other government departments to build a picture of their life in the UK to ensure they can confirm the applicant’s status.

Immigrants: Caribbean

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will require NHS numbers to be provided  as evidence by applicants for free citizenship under the arrangements for the Windrush generation.

Caroline Nokes: All cases will be treated on a case by case basis based on any evidence the applicant can provide and assessed on the balance of probability.The Home Office will accept all sorts of documentation, including NHS numbers, to help build a picture of the applicant’s life in the UK.Where applicants cannot provide evidence of their residence in the UK, the Home Office will work with them and other government departments to build a picture of their life in the UK to ensure they can confirm the applicant’s status.

Immigrants: Caribbean

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff have been recruited to operate the Windrush helpline; and whether those staff have been diverted from working on visas and immigration casework.

Caroline Nokes: The Taskforce consists of approximately 150 staff, who have been seconded from a number of areas of UKVI, including Premium Service Centre, Citizenship, Work and Study commands. We are carefully monitoring the impact that the secondments are having on the business as usual areas that the staff came from and are considering what the shape of a long-term unit for this work may take.

Proscribed Organisations: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted of offences relating to their previous membership of a proscribed organisation in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1994 in the last twelve months.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Home Office collects and publishes data on persons arrested for terrorism-related offences. This includes the primary offence for which a person is charged and convicted – where a person is charged/convicted of more than one offence, only the principal offence is shown (this is the most serious offence based upon the maximum penalty for each offence). The Home Office also collects and publishes data on the ‘terrorist category’ of persons arrested for terrorism-related offences. These categories include those related to Northern Ireland terrorismThese data are published quarterly as part of the ‘Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation’ statistical bulletins, which can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000However, the Home Office does not hold data which would allow us to link past membership of a proscribed organisation with a charge/ conviction for a relevant offence in the last 12 months.

Home Office: Staff

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in his Department have been transferred to work on the Windrush task force by (a) team, (b) geographic workplace location and (c) grade.

Caroline Nokes: The Taskforce consists of approximately 150 staff from a number of areas of UKVI, including Premium Service Centre, Citizenship, Work and Study commands. Staff are flexibly deployed to, and from, locations including Liverpool, Sheffield and Croydon to ensure that the Taskforce is resourced at the necessary grade and location as the need arises.

Detainees: Compensation

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average compensation payment was to people wrongly detained by the Home Office in each of the last three years.

Caroline Nokes: The average compensation payment for wrongful detention is calculated as a ‘Mean’ and a ‘Median’ for FY2015/16 and FY2016/17. These are listed below: FY2015/16FY2016/17Mean£24,170£22,957Median£20,000£15,000Figures for FY2017/18 have not yet been published.

Detainees: Compensation

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the maximum compensation made to a person wrongly detained by the Home Office was in each of the last three years.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not record ‘Wrongful detention’ as a payment type. The figures the Home Office has for compensation are recorded as “unlawful detention”. Our records indicate that the highest compensation payments for unlawful detention for FYs 2014/15 onwards are listed belowFY 2014/15 £125kFY 2015/16 £120kFY 2016/17 £125k

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Windrush cases has his Department (a) resolved and (b) not resolved within the two week target period.

Caroline Nokes: The Taskforce aims to complete cases within two weeks, some will fall outside due to complexity but the vast majority are done on the day.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of Windrush generation cases reported to the Home Office were completed within the two-week time limit set by his Department.

Caroline Nokes: The Taskforce aims to complete cases within two weeks, some will fall outside due to complexity but the vast majority are done on the day.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to recruit new staff to process applications for settled status.

Caroline Nokes: We are fully committed to ensuring that our operational teams have the re-sources they need to run an efficient and effective migration system. To this end, recruitment is underway to bring existing UKVI European Casework staffing levels to c.1,500 ahead of the EU Settlement Scheme launch later this year. Operational units across the Home Office actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand. Any resultant changes to resource requirements will be factored into strategic planning.We will be providing further detail on the scheme in due course.

Anti-terrorism Control Orders: Libya

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2018 to Question 149021, how many control orders on Libyan nationals lifted during 2011 were lifted before the UK intervention in Libya on 19 March 2011.

Mr Ben Wallace: We do not comment on the personal circumstances of individuals who were subject to control orders.

European Arrest Warrants

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the functioning of the European Arrest Warrant as a result of the recent case brought to the ECJ, the Irish Supreme Court Case Minister for Justice -v- Celmer.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK will continue to apply Council Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the European Arrest Warrant and the surrender procedure between Member States, in line with EU law. Any impact on the operation of the European Arrest Warrant with Poland cannot be properly assessed until the outcome of the case is known.

Shoplifting

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the scale of shop theft in England and Wales; and what role (a) the Government, (b) Police and Crime Commissioners and (c) local police forces are planning to play in tackling the root cause of shop theft offending.

Victoria Atkins: Statistics on shoplifting offences reported to the police are recorded in the crime statistics published by the Office for National Statistics. The statistics can be accessed via their website at www.ons.gov.uk.We encourage all retailers to report shoplifting to the police whenever it occurs, so that these crimes can be investigated so, where appropriate, the offenders can be brought to justice. It must, however, remain a matter for chief constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, as operational leaders and elected local representatives, to decide how best to deploy resources to respond to these crimes, alongside other local priorities.On a national level, the police, Police and Crime Commissioners, relevant government departments and the retail sector are all represented on the National Retail Crime Steering Group, which ensures a collaborative response to all the crimes that affect the retail sector. Within the Steering Group we have discussed different approaches to preventing and tackling shoplifting and this will continue to be a priority.

Members: Correspondence

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to respond to the letter of 16 October 2017 from the hon. Member for Glasgow East in relation to his constituent, Mr Ibrahim Al Kasharfeh.

Caroline Nokes: A reply to the hon. Member’s letter dated 16 October 2017 was sent on 29 June 2018.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2018 to Question 155273 on Immigration: EU Nationals, if he will place in the Library a copy of the risk analysis.

Caroline Nokes: All our project management tools are regularly updated to facilitate oversight of the project and enable the identification and escalation of risks within the programme governance. These tools are constantly evolving as part of the ongoing project delivery and placing any document in the public domain may deny us the safe space needed to discuss important delivery issues and hamper our ability to consider all options and weigh up the risks of particular proposals. We will be providing further detail on the Scheme in due course.

Gemalto

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what reports he has received on delays and poor quality in the provision by Gemalto of passports and other products in countries abroad; what assessment he has made of the implications for the Government's decision to place a contract with Gemalto UK Ltd for the production of the new British passport of such delays and quality issues; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: Robust contractual demands and strict governance are in place for the design, manufacture, and personalisation of the new UK passport.The decision to award the passport contract to Gemalto was determined through a rigorous and independent assessment of their bid. Gemalto achieved full marks in multiple areas of their solution, including security and technology, and clearly demonstrated how they would be able to meet our timetable for introducing the new passport from late-2019. Their bid was supported by unanimously positive references from foreign governments and testimony of reliable past performance.

Scotland Office

Havelock Europa: Scotland

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has had discussions with (a) Havelock Europa, (b) The Scottish Government and (c) Cabinet colleagues on the (i) financial situation of Havelock Europa and (ii) protection of the rights of workers at that company.

David Mundell: I have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues and the Scottish Government on a range of business issues. I am aware of the concerning situation at Havelock Europa and my officials are in touch directly with the relevant parties on this matter.

Cabinet Office

Prison Officers: Retirement

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he had with Cabinet colleagues on the equity of raising the retirement age for prison officers to 68.

Oliver Dowden: HM Treasury published an Impact Assessment in September 2012 on the Public Service Pensions Bill, which later became the Public Service Pensions Act 2013. This Act links the Normal Pension Age for public sector workers (including prison officers) to the State Pension Age. This is important to ensure the Normal Pension Age for public service schemes remains in line with developments in longevity, ensuring the sustainability of the schemes and managing risks to the taxpayer.There were extensive discussions between Ministers and with Trade Unions and others at this time.

Carillion: Insolvency

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 14 of the report, Investigation into the government’s handling of the collapse of Carillion, published by the National Audit Office on 7 June 2018, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the collapse of Carillion on the supply chain.

Oliver Dowden: Carillion’s insolvency was a deeply regrettable and unfortunate event, and officials across government have worked hard to minimise its impact on Carillion’s customers, employees, and supply chain. Following the insolvency, government co-ordinated lending facilities for SMEs in the Carillion supply chain totalling c. £1bn. I am confident that the NAO report is a fair and accurate representation of the work which government has carried out.

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he has set targets for UK trade (a) in Asia and (b) other countries outside of the EU once the UK has left the EU; and if he will make a statement.

George Hollingbery: Total UK trade with Asia was worth £216.6 billion in 2016. Total UK trade with countries outside of the EU was worth £584.1 billion in 2016. We are committed to establishing a culture of exporting in the UK and sustaining increased UK trade with the rest of the world, including Asia. We will shortly have appointed 9 HM Trade Commissioners who will be responsible for agreeing, directing and overseeing Regional Trade Plans for all overseas regions.

Department for International Trade: Staff

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the maximum number of full-time equivalent staff employed in trade and export promotion in his Department has been; and what the current complement of such staff is.

George Hollingbery: Holding answer received on 25 June 2018



The whole of the Department for International Trade (DIT) supports trade and export promotion. As at 31 May 2018, the total workforce currently engaged in delivering DIT objectives in DIT is 3,781. This is the highest it has been since the department was created. This number includes staff working overseas and includes staff working in UK Export Finance. DIT has recently updated its methodology for reporting on its workforce to be consistent with standard approaches across government.

Trade Agreements

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will ensure before the UK signs any future trade agreement, he will lay before Parliament an assessment of the potential economic, social, human rights and environmental impacts of that agreement on the UK.

George Hollingbery: The Government will come forward shortly with its approach to the scrutiny of future free trade agreements. As outlined in the trade White Paper ‘Preparing for our Future UK Trade Policy’, the UK is committed to a transparent approach to international trade.

Import Duties: USA

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many times he has discussed the issue of US steel tariffs with his US counterpart.

George Hollingbery: My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade has spoken on numerous occasions to the United States Trade Representative and the Secretary of Commerce about the US tariffs. The Government continues to press for a permanent EU exemption from what the Prime Minister has described as an ‘unjustified and deeply disappointing’ decision, and is fully supportive of the EU’s imposition of countermeasures.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Aerials: Radiation

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to monitor radiation levels from base station antennae.

Margot James: Telecommunications systems should comply with guidelines laid down by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, and certificates of International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection compliance are provided with all planning applications.

Aerials: Location

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to regulate the placement of base station antennae.

Margot James: The deployment of telecoms infrastructure is regulated through the planning laws. Planning is devolved in each nation.

Voluntary Work: Disability

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of people with disabilities volunteer.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of people with disabilities who volunteer.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of the barriers to volunteering that people with disabilities face.

Tracey Crouch: The latest Community Life Survey from 2016/17 shows that 25% of adult respondents with a limiting long-term illness or disability engaged in formal volunteering at least once a month, with 32% volunteering informally. 48% of young people with disabilities reported taking part in meaningful social action as part of National Youth Social Action Survey 2016. The Government encourages volunteering by people from all backgrounds and supports a number of programmes which enable volunteering opportunities. For example, the £40m #iwill Fund aims to create more opportunities for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to volunteer and there are projects that particularly support those with disabilities to participate. This includes match funders Comic Relief and Sport England using #iwill funding to support Leonard Cheshire Disability in running the Can Do project in Southampton and the Can Do Sport project in Essex, Liverpool, London, Manchester and West Yorkshire.We are also committed to assessing the barriers to volunteering. Our forthcoming review of community contributions in later life with the Centre for Ageing Better will look into barriers to volunteering for older people, including for those with disabilities.

Voluntary Work: Disability

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will use funds recovered from dormant assets to reintroduce the Access to Volunteering fund.

Tracey Crouch: The government announced in January 2018 that £330m from dormant accounts would be distributed to good causes across the UK over the next four years. We have announced that the English portion of this will be allocated to help disadvantaged and disengaged young people transition into work, fund financial inclusion initiatives and, via Big Society Capital, support social investment programmes tackling homelessness and supporting local charities and social enterprises. Decision making for deploying dormant asset funds in the devolved administrations is fully devolved. The government encourages volunteering by people from all backgrounds and supports a number of programmes which enable volunteering opportunities. One example of this is the £40m #iwill Fund, which aims to create more opportunities for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to volunteer.

Northern Ireland Office

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions the Government has had with politicians in Northern Ireland on access to abortion in that country.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has been taking forward regular discussions with the main political parties in Northern Ireland about restoring devolved government and the pressing devolved issues which need to be addressed by a restored Assembly and Executive, including abortion.